All My Friends Are Yankees
by ILAUGHATYOUALL
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia's life is really screwed up. She's to be unable to do anything right, creating situations she didn't want to happen at all. Even her friends are weird. THEY'RE ALL YANKEES. Part 1: She is very oblivious and gets captured easily. Part 2: He hates puberty and loves being the knight. Part 3: She just can't seem to stay out of trouble. Part 4: He's finally realized.
1. Pink

A/N: Heyyyzzzzz It's Laugh! Here's my new story. I'm going to finish Natsu's Predicament, but I really wanted to get this one out asap so I could free myself. TT_TT My redemption for terrible writing is coming out either in the fall, or next summer. It's absolutely beautiful. Alas, this isn't it, but that doesn't mean it isn't good. *_Makes a stubborn face_*

* * *

Title: **All My Friends Are Yankees**

Summary: **It all came down to if you wanted to survive or not. Lucy Heartfilia wasn't one to gamble with fate or luck. She just knew that everything in this town was decided from the moment that you arrived. If you came wanting a peaceful life, you were stupid. However, if you came wanting to get loose and find some trouble, you were in the right place. She wasn't there for either of those purposes, but **_**whatever**_**. Finding Salamanders isn't as easy as you'd think. NaLu FTW**

Author: **ILAUGHATYOUALL**

Fanbase: **Fairy Tail**

Disclaimer: **Ugh. -_-**

Chapter One: **Pink.**

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**PART ONE**

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It all came down to if you wanted to survive or not. Lucy Heartfilia wasn't one to gamble with fate or luck. She just knew that everything in this town was decided from the moment that you arrived. If you came wanting a peaceful life, you were stupid. However, if you came wanting to get loose and find some trouble, you were in the right place. She wasn't there for either of those purposes, but _whatever_.

Magnolia didn't used to be this way. At one point the city was brightly lit and sunny all the time. There were playgrounds full of children and parents, schools, shops, and apartment buildings with flower pots on the balconies. It was safe to go walk around and talk to strangers.

That was all before the detention center was placed there. The town's representatives were against it, saying that it wasn't smart or moral to put a detention center in the middle of a flourishing city, but their requests were denied. It was an executive order from the King.

And so, the once-beautiful streets became full of criminals whose sentences were used up. Slowly, families began moving out and were replaced by drug dealers and good-for-nothings. They still required a school, so a special academy was built to house all the grades, and a university. It was a partial boarding school, with high spiked gates and a special security system.

The public explanation was that this was in the interest of the students, to provide security for them and enhance the safety of the children. The truth was different. All the children of the con artists and drug dealers and gangsters went to that school, and thegovernment wanted to keep an eye on them.

The blond rubbed her eyes as she sat in one of the restaurants in the better side of town. She leaned forward, with her elbows resting on the metal table. There wasn't that many people in the place, probably because she was there at 11:45 P.M., and the only respectable people in the city were probably home asleep.

Turning her head toward the window, she saw sparks as a group of thugs passed by, lighting cigarettes and shoving each other around. They were all probably drunk. She rolled her eyes.

Lucy sighed. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. The only reason she'd come here was to get away from home, but her spirit wasn't high at the moment. She noticed a guy with blue hair, of all things, leaning against the side of a building, the streetlight obscuring his face from her. He was talking animatedly with a group of women and guys surrounding him.

She didn't think much of it. There were stranger things in this city, and she wanted to explore.

Well, as soon as she found a place to stay. Hotels were like diamonds in the rough around there, and were difficult to find. She definitely wasn't certain anyone would let her stay in an apartment without paying rent for a night. She was _not_ going to go hide somewhere and sleep. That was out of the question. There were definitely perverts stalking around.

She laid her head on the table, dreading the moment when the waiter came to take her order.

Pretty soon, the time came. She asked for a soda, avoiding the girl's eyes. She chewed her lip a bit before turning around to go for the soda. Lucy sighed, wondering how she was going to get out of this. She didn't have much on her, but she was pretty sure that 50 bucks would cover a drink. Of course, as she needed the money for a place to stay, she was reluctant to spend any of it.

Her eyes closed slowly as she dozed off.

"What are you _doing_?" asked a voice. Lucy's head shot up, and her hands raised themselves in an automatic defense pose.

"Whaddaya want?!" she slurred, trying and failing initially to see what was happening.

She blinked, then rubbed her eyes, attempting to rid them of sleep. Looking up, she almost fell over. Okay. She _did _fall over. Right off her seat.

The guy. He had pink hair.

"WHOAH! Are you okay?!" he yelled, grabbing her arm right before she hit the floor. Her glare must have been murderous, because his face fell a bit when he saw it.

"Um, who are you?" she asked, then switched to the assertive side, "And why do you want to know what I'm doing?"

He scratched the nape of his neck nervously. "I'm, uh, Natsu. Natsu Dragneel. I thought you were dead, so I had to ask what you were doing!"

Lucy noticed that her drink had arrived. She sipped it, then sat up in her seat, motioning for him to stop. "Say that again, I didn't catch it."

"I said, I'm Natsu Dragneel, and I thought you were dead, so I had to ask what you were doing."

She spit out the liquid. Most of it went onto the pinky's shirt. "EXCUSE ME?!" she yelled/asked.

"Yes," said Natsu, awfully curious, "You're excused."

She almost lost it right then. _Almost. _

"Okay, you wanna tell me what an idiot's doing in Magnolia? I thought this was a gangster town," Lucy said, putting her finger on the table.

"HEY! I'm not an idiot!" Natsu responded, waving his arms, "I was just curious! And this town won't be gangsterish for long! I'm working on it!"

"Aw, whatever," said Lucy. She raised an eyebrow at the pinky. He wasn't all that bad looking. His pink hair was a big throw off, but he had dark onyx eyes and a goofy grin that she strangely liked. AGH! WHAT WAS SHE _THINKING?_! HE WAS JUST AN IDIOT, JUST AND IDIOT...

His childish attitude was a giveaway. He sat down right across from her and ordered a steak platter. Lucy gave him a look, and he gave her puppy eyes, like he was hoping she'd order him something else as well.

"Do you have money with you?" she asked, twirling her finger on the tabletop. He shrugged. A vein throbbed on her forehead. She repeated her question, except it sounded like a command this time.

"A little," he admitted in a small voice. His food arrived, and his face lit up.

"Fine, then," she said, "You'll be paying for your own food."

He pouted, stuffing steak and potatoes into his mouth. "But I don't have _that _much money, you know!"

She glared. "How much do you have?"

"I've been warned not to tell strangers that," he replied, gulping.

To her surprise, he quickly ordered a roast turkey dinner for 4 before she could respond. Her jaw dropped open.

"You're Natsu, right?" she asked shakily. _How the heck did he eat so much?_

"Yup," he said, his mouth full, "What about it?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes and chewing her lip. She raised her hand to the waitress, and asked her how much the turkey dinner and steak was. Turns out, it was 30 dollars all together, including the drinks. A deal according to some standards, but she literally couldn't afford any more of this.

Lucy's mouth straightened into a firm line. She closed her eyes, huffing, then slammed her hand against the table and stood up. "I don't have time or money, for this. I'm _looking_ for someone called the Salamander! Heard of him? No? Then I don't have any more business with you!"

Natsu looked up at in surprise. What was that she just said? He opened his mouth to say something, but her glare made him shut his mouth.

"I'm done with this," she declared, opening her purse and slapping 40 dollars onto the table. The waitress deserved a good tip after this. The pinky looked up at her with wide eyes.

"You're leaving?" he asked, honestly confused.

"YES!" she yelled.

Natsu grumbled about something inaudible, and Lucy grabbed her purse and stomped out of the restaurant and into the cold night air. He gaped at her sudden departure. The waitress came to the table, poking his shoulder.

"Looks like you just got dumped."

* * *

Lucy stormed out into the night. The chill in the air made her shiver, and she looked sorrowfully at the goosebumps on her skin. She rubbed her bare arms as she regretted not wearing sleeves.

Then again, she was glad she was out of there. That guy named Natsu was irritating. It was strange, but she felt sorry for him. Odd...

"Hey, what's with you, babe?" asked a strange voice.

Lucy's head shot up and she glared at the person who had said it. That person happened to be that guy who she had spotted outside of the restaurant earlier.

"Nothing. I'm just cold. What's with _you_?"

The guy shrugged. "I'm not busy or anything, if that was what you were wondering." He fluffed his dark blue hair.

She rolled her eyes.

"I just got away from some fangirls. They all want the Salamander's signature. It's been crazy!"

Lucy froze. "What do you mean... Are you the Salamander?!"

"Sure am," he said, wiggling his eyebrows, "What? Interested? Do you want an autograph too?"

A blush crept across her face. "N-no," she stuttered, "I just wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" he asked, smoothing his hair back and then fluffing it.

"You... belong to a gang called Fairy Tail?"

Her eyes widened a second later as she felt a sharp pain in her side. She dropped to the ground, her vision dimming. Looking up in shock, she saw that the blue-haired man was grinning from ear to ear and holding a stun gun.

_Damn._

* * *

Lucy awoke, her head hurting like hell. She sat up as she rubbed her forehead. Where was she?

She looked around and saw that she was laying on a posh couch in a cabin of some sort. The room was beautifully decorated, sporting orange and pink hues. Morning light filtered through the shades in the window. Moving quickly, she sat up and walked over to them, gasping when she saw that she was in a docked boat.

And that's when she remembered how she got there. She put her hands into her pocket, searching or her celestial keys. Damn. They'd been confiscated.

"Oh, God," she said, slapping her head, "Smart of you there Luce. Real smart."

"Looks like you've finally woken up, darling," said the voice from the night before.

"Salamander!" she yelled, turning and glaring at him.

He smirked. "You know that's not who I really am."

Her eyes widened. "So you aren't?"

"Of course not! He's an idiot!"

Lucy groaned.

"Don't feel like you're out of the woods, though. I'm not letting you go," said the fake Salamander, "By the way, the name's Bora."

"What?"

"And you know what? I'm actually involved in human trafficking. Guess who's my next _victim_?"

Lucy started backing away, a look of terror on her face.

"Looks like you have the right idea! I know plenty of old men who'd pay a high price for you," he said, grinning wickedly and picking up a piece of her blond hair.

She flinched before hissing at him and backing up, only to find that she was against the wall. She glared at Bora, who was smiling sadistically.

"You," she growled.

"Yes?" he said back, mimicking her voice, "What about me?"

"You bastard perverted idiot!" she yelled, pointing a finger at him. He blinked, saying he had no idea what she was talking about. She was about to respond but he called out to his thugs to come and tie her up.

Lucy remained silent as they bound her feet and hands. She was shoved onto the soft carpet, still glaring daggers at Bora and gritting her teeth. Tears were forming in her eyes, but it wasn't from helplessness. The way the thug was twisting her arms really hurt.

_Onyx eyes widened._

The ceiling caved in on itself. Lucy screamed and Bora held up his hands in front of his face. Dirt and debris flew around, knocking one of the thugs out of commission. She gritted her teeth, closing her eyes to avoid getting dust in them.

Once it had cleared, she opened her big brown eyes again, trying to assess the situation. Her face froze in shock. Bora saw who was standing among the wreckage and immediately had a deer-in-the-headlights look. The thugs backed up, dumping Lucy on the ground. She made an 'oof' sound, falling down. Her throat made a gulping sound as she gazed up at her savior.

"Why?" she asked, dazed.

"You left your purse."

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So how was the first chapter?! Next update is in 2 days, and then I'm putting them up every week. Suggestions are welcome, and if I really like something, I'll add it in before the next chapter is up.

THANKS FOR READINGGGGG! Chapter 2 will be up soon!


	2. Fire

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! Candies for everyone! Next chapter will be released in exactly 9 days! That means the Monday after next Monday, folks. Yup. My gift to you on that sucky day. Nobody likes Mondays.

I decided to update this one early...

Just in case you forgot...

**Recap of Chapter One**: Lucy Heartfilia has just entered a very-not-nice town called Magnolia. While eating at a restaurant, wondering what she'll do with only 50 bucks and no leads on the Salamander, she meets a strange weirdo named Natsu Dragneel. After she leaves the place in disgust at how much he eats and gets kidnapped by ANOTHER weirdo who is gonna sell her to some perverted old man. She is just about to lose hope when the ceiling caves in, and who is there but...

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Chapter Two: **Fire**

**PART ONE**

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"You left your purse."

"Huh?" Lucy mumbled dumbly. She stared in silence at her pink-haired savior. Natsu Dragneel had murder written on his face as he glared at Bora.

"I see. You kidnapped her and were gonna sell her, eh?" he asked, obviously not wanting an answer, "Well I'm kinda sorry, but that won't be happenin."

Bora stood, wiping the shock from his face. He growled at the pink-haired idiot.

"You sure have a way of showing up at the wrong time, Dragneel," he spat, fury plain as day on his face. He raised his hand, and a strange-colored fire enveloped his fist and a circle appeared above. Lucy's eyes widened. Fire magic?

Natsu grinned, and responded by slamming (Yes, SLAMMING.) his fists together and creating a magic circle, along with tons of orange flames. Lucy jumped from her position on the floor and ran to the nearest wall. She hugged the wall, praying that she would be able to get out of the damned boat ASAP.

The two fire mages ran at each other, slamming fists into each other's skulls. Lucy winced. As Bora winced from the blow, he turned midair and put his hands together toward Natsu. He shot a whip-like flame at the Pinky, whose eyes widened as he saw the attack. Lucy closed her eyes, fearing the worst. Not hearing anything, she paused.

"FIRE DRAGON ROAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!"

_What did he just say?_

Lucy shut her eyes tighter, as she felt debris fly everywhere again. Hot air blasted everything in the boat, including herself. She squinted, trying to see what was happening. She could vaguely see a figure standing before her. She opened her eyes wider to see that it was Natsu, grinning like an idiot. Bora was sprawled on the floor in the background, completely kicked out of the ball game.

Natsu held his hand out to her, making her realize that she had fallen onto her knees. She grabbed his hand, and he pulled her up.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"You wanted to find the Salamander, right?" he asked. She nodded, glancing to the side.

"Well that's me!" he yelled, laughing a bit. Lucy stared at him.

"So... could you take me to Fairy Tail?"

"Sure!" Natsu cried, "But before we go, we have to get out of here!"

He then proceeded to use his fire magic to blow a freaking hole in the side of the boat. Lucy gaped at the damage, wondering exactly how much money the boat cost. Natsu laughed and jumped through, grabbing hold of her hand and pulling her after him.

That was when the cops came.

Frantic gangsters ran off to the dirtiest corners of the shipyard. Illegal immigrants went with them, along with thugs, petty thieves, and other small fry. The Magnolia Police Force rushed in, plexiglass shields and batons ready for action. Lucy visibly jumped. Natsu frowned.

"Who caused all this ruckus?" asked one of the officers. He was short, old, and had a unibrow... Whoah...

"Ah! Yajima!"

The short old guy put a finger to his lips, signaling Natsu to shut it. Natsu unfortunately took it as a cue to run. He grabbed Lucy's arm and pulled her swiftly to the right.

"Oi! Where are you two going?!" yelled one of the officers. Several of the others began pursuit.

Natsu, ignoring the call, just ran faster. Lucy was being dragged behind him, while at the same time yelling profanities. She tried to drag her feet harder, so that Natsu would stop. She frankly didn't want to be in trouble with the police.

"NATSUUUUUU!" she yelled, her face red from the effort.

"WHAT?!" he yelled back at her, curious. She glared at him.

"I CAN'T WALK WHEN YOU PULL ME LIKE THIS!" Lucy screamed. Natsu just kept running and led-no, more like _dragged _her further into the streets. He took a swift right, avoiding a lamppost and jumping onto a bench by an dirty abandoned park. A couple was smoking and sitting together on the swingset.

Natsu flopped down on the bench, pulling Lucy with him. She sat down hard on the wet wood. Seems like someone had spilled water on it.

"Owww," she said, rubbing her butt. Natsu smiled at her, panting slightly. Apparently they'd lost the Police.

"You're really heavy," he mentioned. She glared daggers at him.

"That's not exactly a smart thing to say, Salamander!"

"Fine, Luigi."

Lucy's throbbing fist froze, as did her facial expression. "_What did you just call me_?"

Throughout her childhood, Lucy hadn't been given any nicknames. Ms. Heartfilia, Ms. Lucy, Lucy, Luce, and even just Heartfilia by itself were the only things that anyone had ever called her. It really wasn't that much of a surprise that being called the name of a Mario character irked her. In fact, she _really _didn't like it. At ALL.

"Luigi, right? That's your name?" Natsu asked, nervously messing with his scarf.

"No," yelled Lucy, breathing fire, "My name is NOT Luigi! It's Lucy! LUCY!"

"Okay," said Natsu, putting his hands up.

Lucy did not accept his stance of retreat. She took her big throbbing fist and it was at that moment that Natsu's face first met her hand. The sound that emitted startled the couple that was sitting on the swings. They stood up and walked away, like this was an everyday occurrence.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!" screamed Natsu, sailing across the park. He hit the slide and cracked it. Lucy stood up, panting with an evil look in her eyes. Natsu sat up, rubbing his forehead.

"Wooooow," he said shakily, "That was really a hit. Daaaaaamnnnn! You're a girl?" He flopped and lay across the broken slide. The plastic lit up and glowed red, an effect of the sun's light meeting it. Lucy walked over to him. She picked up a stick and poked him with it.

"Come on," she said, prodding his cheek, "You were going to take me to Fairy Tail, weren't you?"

"Oh!" he exclaimed, "Yeah! I forgot! Let's go!"

He stood up, brushing himself off. He pointed toward the center of the city. "That way."

He started walking further. Lucy followed him silently. She was feeling kinda bad for smacking him and sending him across the park. She should be feeling excited, but there was a sick feeling in her stomach.

"Hey, Natsu?" she asked cautiously.

"Huh?"

"Do you think we could take the subway? I'm not feeling well, so I don't want to walk...

"Natsu? Hellooooooo?!"

"NO! NOT THE TRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAINNNNNNNSSSSSSSSS!" screamed Natsu, grabbing her hand yet again and running like a giant tarantula was after them. Lucy stumbled, trying to keep up, but this time she held her feet and ran like the wind with him.

"Why?!" she yelled back at him, "Do trains scare you?"

"OF COURSE NOT!"

"Then why are you running away?!"

"NO REASON! NO REASON AT ALL!"

Lucy huffed, still trying to stay on her feet. She then rolled her eyes, wondering who the hell this guy thought he was... Okay... He knew who he was; he was the Salamander and could probably fry her to a crisp in a split second. Dangit.

After a period of exactly 42 seconds (Lucy had been counting. Boredom is a very dangerous thing.) they arrived at a gate on the far side of town. It had been covered in spray paint, but it didn't actually look that bad. It was very detailed, in fact, to the extreme. It was a fairy guild sign, with the words 'Fairy Tail' written above.

_How covert, _Lucy thought sarcastically.

Natsu grinned, like this piece of gang art was his own doing, and pointed to the iron gate that was situated to the right of it. Lucy sighed. For a legal gang, this place looked awfully illegal.

* * *

(Confused? Let Laugh explain. For the past 10 years, those good 'ol police officers had difficulties in restraining crime in the area. They decided that being the cops wasn't enough to get rid of the gangs. So... They decided to create artificial 'official' gangs, that were made to infiltrate illegal activity circles and lock 'em up. Smart, right? Like, internal vigilante service.)

* * *

"Let's go in," suggested Natsu. Lucy sighed, but walked through the doors after him.

"Whoah."

The place was huge. Although it wasn't visible from the outside, the courtyard was gigantic, and led to an even bigger mansion-like guild house. It had the Fairy Tail mark on it, and was brightly colored. Lucy continued gaping at it until Natsu dragged her through the front door.

"OIIIIIIII! MIRAAAAA!" screamed Natsu, "I GOT A NEWWBIIEEEE!"

A beautiful maiden with snow white hair and bright blue eyes materialized next to them. Lucy jumped, going into a defensive stance in the air. Mirajane Strauss giggled.

"I see that, Natsu," she said, a sparkle appearing in her eye, "She's very pretty. Here, I'll give her a guild mark. What color do you like? Oh, and my name's Mirajane."

Lucy blinked, before cautiously extending her right hand and pointing to it. "Pink. I want it here."

Mira smiled kindly at her, taking the pink guild stamp and putting it on her hand. Then Lucy looked at her surroundings. Utter chaos.

Natsu had long abandoned standing right by Lucy, and had gone to go argue with another guy. Lucy blinked at the sight of him. He wasn't wearing any pants. Natsu ran over to him, yelling something about Ice Princesses and grabbed the only article of clothing left on him, his boxers. The black haired boy panicked, then spotted Lucy and ran toward her.

Lucy's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, as she assumed a stance of one trying to get away from something. He reached her. Lucy blinked at him. He didn't actually look that bad. Of course, he wasn't wearing anything, which was a turn-off...

"Miss, could I borrow your panties?" he said, his hand extended, pointing at her skirt.

"WHAT?! NO WAAAY!" she cried, slapping him hard with her whip. He flew across the guild hall, before slamming into a table and overturning it. The occupants of the table stood up, furious. They consisted of a short bluenette, and two boy accomplices.

The bluenette quickly examined the black haired boy, now unconscious, and raised her head toward Natsu. Her cheeks flushed, she demanded that he give 'Gray' back his underwear.

"No way!" cried Natsu, twirling his trophy on his finger. He laughed, grinning like a maniac. "Gray, you naked ice pervert! Aahahahhahahhahahha!"

Lucy sweat dropped. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to join this guild. She did have her reasons, but this was getting out of hand. Before she could stand up and reprimand them all, a large black fist slammed Natsu into the ground.

"Wha-?" Lucy muttered. She then looked up at the source of that fist, and doubled took.

A _gigantic-_monstrous-evil-weird-huge-demon-that-was-at-least- fifty-feet-tall loomed over the occupants of the guild hall, who had begun fighting and overturning more tables. Natsu remained knocked out on the floor. birds and stars circling around his head like a halo. The huge monster stepped closer to her, and she did a double take again.

Mirajane laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "That's Master Makarov, Lucy."

"WHAAAAAAAT?!"

Mirajane giggled, and 'Master' laughed, making a big booming sound and shaking both Lucy's sanity and the guild hall. She cowered behind Mira, who traitorously moved back and pushed Lucy up to meet 'Master.'

"RRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAR!" Master yelled at Lucy. She fainted on the spot.

* * *

"Master, that was overkill," informed Mirajane. The giant devil-like figure shrank and shrank until he was only about 3 feet tall. He was no longer a hulking demon shape, either. He had a mustache, a bald area on his head, and spiky white-grey hair. He probably would deny the bald part.

Natsu, fully recovered, approached Makarov, his fist raised. He had fire coming out of his mouth, which frankly was a big turn-off in terms of intelligence.

"What'd you do that for, Gramps?! She's a new member of the guild!" he cried, ready to smack Makarov into a wooden pillar.

"That's part of the acceptance, brat," retorted Master Makarov, his fist suddenly growing again. He slammed it into Natsu, who in turn smacked against a wooden pillar. Mirajane sighed, complementing the Master on his superb skills in scaring small children, and headed back to her post behind the bar counter. Sarcasm, dear, sarcasm. Also irony. That was really important, too.

Once there, she changed her mind and went to bring Lucy with her. The unconscious were always at danger in the guild hall of Fairy Tail.

* * *

THANKS FOR READINGGGGG!

I appreciate any and all feedback! If you have any ideas that would make the story better, don't hesitate to either PM me or review to let me know! Thanks!

And again, next chapter will be up next Monday. All the rest of the chapters of Part One will be up every subsequent Monday. By the way, that's up to Chapter 6.

**Happy reviewing! *smirk***


	3. Woman or Monster?

A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews, favorites, and followers! This story is so incredibly fun to write and tell, and the reactions are great! ^_^ What a wonderful Monday!

* * *

Chapter Three: **Woman... or Monster?**

* * *

**PART ONE**

* * *

Two days later, Lucy Heartfilia had enrolled in Magnolia Academy, the partial boarding school in the city. She had convinced the Headmaster, who, strangely enough, turned out to be the gang master of Fairy Tail also, Makarov Dreyar, to let her stay full time as a boarding school student. She was also shocked to find out that most of the gang members, including Natsu and that weird naked dude, were attending the school also.

School started in a week, and Lucy didn't have anything really to do until then. She spent her time strolling the city during the day. Even though the buildings in certain parts of the town had been totally screwed up by the gangs, the cherry trees were still there. They were flowering, and made the areas surrounding them smell mildly sweet. It was nice.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to just walk around?" asked a voice, coming from behind Lucy. She turned, smiling at the girl known as Levy McGarden. She and Levy had found 'common interests' and decided to hang out around the city, talking about them.

"It gives me inspiration," Lucy explained, "It's lively, yet dangerous at the same time."

"Ah," muttered Levy, rubbing her chin as she thought about it.

Lucy giggled, before turning forward and walking. She spotted the park bench that she and that Natsu boy had sat on just two days earlier. The memory made her smile.

All in all, it seemed to be a pretty good day in Magnolia. The sun was high, the sky was clear, and there was no crime to be seen in the open. A family or two was taking their children out to the park, and the city was bustling with activity. Lucy spotted a hot dog vendor, yelling out that he was selling 'magic' hot dogs. Sure enough, he blew some really hot air on it, and it cooked immediately.

Levy followed close behind, pointing out good spots to watch around the city. They strolled along, hoping to find something more interesting to do. They were pretty unsuccessful. Sure, watching the action happen in the city was entertaining, but when it came down to it, standing and staring was boring. You had to be _in _the fray.

Hours later the girls had found their way back to Fairy Tail.

Natsu was lounging around, laying across the bench on one of the tables. It looked like he'd been knocked out again since they left. Worse, he was now wearing an inside-out t-shirt. Gray was standing next to him, swirling his own t-shirt on his finger. He seemed quite pleased, but the look on his face was scary.

"Er, Gray?" Levy squeaked, coming out from behind Lucy. Lucy turned and glanced back at her. When she faced forward again, she was face-to-face with Gray.

"Why, hello there. Would you like this shirt? I don't need it." He absentmindedly started stripping.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! YOUR CLOTHESS!"

Gray paused for a moment, before looking down at himself. He jumped 7 feet off of the ground, screaming about his clothes, and then quickly put his pants back on. Lucy stood, frozen. _Eeeeew..._

The girl who had just screamed at Gray now stood, wobbling a bit to the side before slamming her feet into the ground. She was very pretty, with tan skin and dark wavy brown hair and purple-blue eyes. And she was drunk. _Very drunk._

"Gray, you're SUUUUCH an idiot!" she slurred/yelled. Lucy sweat-dropped, taking a step back. Levy frowned, shaking her head. She sighed.

"Cana, sit down. You haven't been drunk in a while, what's the matter?" Levy lectured, shaking a finger at Cana as she walked toward her. Lucy had a vague thought in the back of her mind that Levy resembled a school teacher.

"Nothing! Nothing at ALLLL..." she trailed off, shaking an upside-down beer barrell, like she'd been drinking out of it. Wait a second... She HAD been DRINKING OUT OF IT!

"Uh..." Lucy muttered, very confused, and very wary of the brunette that was swaying from side to side. Her eyes had swirls in them, making her look like a nut. Well, thinking back to the beer barrell, the blonde had to admit that she did seem an awful lot like a nut.

"Oh, Cana's really drunk this time! Amazing," said a voice, right next to Lucy's right ear. Her eyes became as wide as dinner plates. In fact, they rather looked like dinner plates, with black spots in the middle for her pupils. (O_O) Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned her head, to the extent that she looked like a robot as her neck twisted.

"NATSUUUU?!" she screamed, right up in his face. Their faces were inches apart, and he had this really weird look on his face.

"W-what's your problem?" he said, looking like a puppet, the weird mouth movements and all. Levy, momentarily distracted, gave him a very strange and confused look. She narrowed her eyes at him.

Lucy froze. "Nothing! Um, I was just pretending you were an enemy," she insisted, nodding her head and blushing, embarrassed at her awkwardness.

"Practicing?!"

"Y-yes! Exactly!"

"Ah... I get it now!"

"Uh-huh.'

"Yup."

"Great."

"Yes."

"Well then..."

"Hm?"

"Uh..."

"Er..."

"What were we talking about?"

Levy screamed in agony of the long, drawn out exchange. "AAAAAGH! Just stop it already!"

Both looked at her with button eyes, confused. "What's _your _problem?"

Levy fell backward, unconscious on the wooden floor. Cana straightened from her hunched over position, then bent to examine the bluenette. Her eyes had swirls in them. Lucy and Natsu shrugged in unison.

"Levy! You okay? What the hell's the matter with you?!" she yelled in her face. She looked pretty sobered-up.

"Levy!" screeched Lucy, running over to her new friend and kneeled by her side. Natsu waddled over to them as well.

"Cana," he asked, "Have you seen Happy anywhere?"

"No," Cana growled, and Lucy decided she was still not quite sober. "WHY THE HELL DOES THAT MATTER NOW?!"

Natsu managed to dodge the hot air and swear words that were directed at him. However, he failed to dodge the small square projectiles that Cana had also thrown at him. Lucy stopped tending Levy for a moment, standing up and realizing that the squares were actually cards. Just then they smashed into Natsu, exploding and shooting him into the opposite wall.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" screamed Natsu, coughing as he inhaled the dust that was surrounding him entirely. He attempted to wave it aside, but he ended up making the dust cloud worse.

"Ignore him," ordered Cana, sitting down abruptly and placing a card over Levy. It had a cartoon image of the bluenette on it. Lucy raised an eyebrow as the it began to glow, illuminating their faces. In the background, Natsu was having a hissy fit, blowing fire and smoke around and setting the tables and tapestries in flames.

Lucy kneeled down again next to Cana, and watched Levy with a worried look. Cana glanced at her. "She'll be fine. She was only knocked out due to overexposure."

Lucy was confused. "Overexposure to what?"

"Stupidity."

A large arrow embedded itself into Lucy's torso, the word 'stupid' written clearly on it. On the other side of the room, Natsu was also shot with an identical arrow. Cana smirked.

"S-stupid?" stuttered Lucy, her eyes wide as dinner plates again. The arrow had now disappeared.

"Well, mostly Natsu... I guess..." admitted Cana, shrugging. She gave Natsu a sideways glance from the other side of the room. He jumped a couple of feet, before grinning like a maniac and stalking his way over to them.

"PEANUT BUTTER!" screamed Levy, as she reached up and out of her temporary coma.

"_What_?" asked Lucy, gaping.

"Eh...?" muttered Levy, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. She looked awfully confused.

It was then that Natsu reached them. He chuckled evilly, giving Cana an evil glare.

"Natsu," she chided, "Blink, I can't see your pupils!"

An aura of flames surrounded Natsu as his smile widened. His pupils came into view, and they were pointed and reptile-ish. Probably the Dragon Slayer part of him. He started chuckling, harder this time.

"What on earth are you laughing about anyway?" asked Lucy, her brown eyes wide with curiosity.

Natsu averted his glare from Cana to Lucy. She returned the gesture. "Nothing! I'm just very happy that I'm about to beat information out of Cana!"

"Why?!" Lucy demanded an answer. It was weird that Natsu wanted to beat Cana up specifically. It was usually Gray, or even Jet and Droy, Levy's 'henchmen.' (Where on earth were they, anyway?!) But, then again, this was Natsu...

_Blech, _she thought disdainfully, _Natsu is such an idiot._

And suddenly, she felt an arm curl around her waist, much like an anaconda curling around it's prey. Her eyes widened considerably, and she flushed when she saw whose arm it was.

"Loke! What the hell?!" she cried, trying to peel his arm off her.

"Whoah, whoah, wait, Lucy!" protested Loke, clinging on to her. His shades were still on, though she could definitely tell it was him. Suddenly, she felt his arm's absence, and she turned to see Loke jumping around, holding his butt.

"What the..."

_Oh._

"AND DON'T COME BACK!" yelled/commanded Natsu, bringing down a flaming fist on Loke. He quickly came again with a swift kick to Loke's legs, causing him to trip and fall over. Loke countered as soon as he hit the ground; swinging his legs in a curved upward motion, he heaved and jumped up, just in time to slam his forehead against Natsu's.

_Crack_

Both Natsu and Loke fell over onto their backs, their feet inches from the other's. Blood spouted like fountains from their foreheads where they knocked together. Natsu had a weak, open-mouthed smile plastered on his face, while Loke was whistling incoherently. They were also unconscious.

Lucy moaned, quite tired of the boys' rivalry. It was almost as bad as Gray and Natsu's rivalry. Or Cana and Natsu's rivalry. Or Makarov and Natsu's rivalry. Or Laxus and Natsu's rivalry. Wait a second. There was a common denominator there...

That was it! Natsu was at the center of all the trouble! If only she could tame him, if she could force him into submission... Maybe there would be peace in Fairy Tail.

She realized she had been muttering aloud, because when she looked up Cana, Levy, Natsu, and Loke were all staring at her, horrified.

"No, Lucy," said Natsu, his voice shaking in a comical manner, "There's someone else who will make Fairy Tail a dangerous and war-filled place."

"Yup," agreed Cana, "Though she's always pretending to keep law and order, she incites the opposite."

Levy and Loke squeaked in agreement.

A booming sound shook the guild hall. All heads turned toward the doorway, which was shaking. Another boom made Lucy think that perhaps it was someone's footsteps. Before she could ask who it was, the door burst open, and a giant figure entered.

"Oh, look! She's here now!"

"I'M HOME!"

_Oh. My. God._

* * *

She held a large heavyweight wrestling championship belt over her head like it weighed nothing. Her hair was long, red, and flowing in the draft of the open entrance. The light from outside obscured her face in shadows, but her grey eyes were bright with the sense of someone who expected to be listened to, and obeyed. And last, but not least, she wore... armor?

"Erza!" greeted Mirajane, her ever-present smile lighting up her beautiful face.

"Mira," 'Erza' smiled back, regarding them all coldly. Suddenly, she frowned.

"YOU! JET! DROY! Go mop up that kool-aid you just spilled! Levy! Get me some strawberry shortcake! Natsu, go outside and don't let me see you here again until that fire in your hair is extinguished! Gray! Get rid of all your damn ice around here! Loke-" She stopped.

"Where's Loke?!"

Loke came up behind Erza, grinning wickedly. He snaked an arm around her shoulder and smiled his playboy smile down at her. She did not react violently, as Lucy had expected her to. She glared calmly up at him, and requested through gritted teeth that he let go of her.

"No way! I.. uh..."

"Are you drunk?!"

"No, I'm not drunk... I'm just intoxicated by you."

Then she got violent.

With an odd grace, Erza slammed an armoured fist into Loke's gut, then added to it by using her other fist to make an indent in his face. He went sailing across the room and slammed into the far wall. Lucy was frozen solid, fear freezing up her senses. Who the hell was this girl?! It looked as if she was completely in charge. The occupants of the guild immediately began doing as she told them. Except Natsu.

"ERZA! FIGHT ME!" he demanded, his hair still in flames and his finger stuck out at her. She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Interesting," she commented, "Usually you're less bold when I initially return..."

"Oh, it's ON!" responded Natsu, who was now pointing a flaming fist at her. He was grinning like a maniac again.

"Of course!" agreed Erza, as she straightened her arm to her side and pulled out a long sword. She dropped the heavyweight belt.

"ERZAAAA!"

* * *

THANKS FOR READINGGGGGG!

**Reviews are appreciated, but not a necessity. Thought I do like to hear your opinion.**


	4. Liiiiiike' Is a Very Bad Word

A/N: This is an American model for High School. I'm actually a bit more familiar with it since I spent WAAAAY too much time there down in Texass. _Yeah._ I just went there.

* * *

Chapter Four: **'Liiiiiike' Is a Very Bad Word**

* * *

**PART ONE**

* * *

"ERZAAA!"

Erza remained silent, oblivious to Natsu's battle cry. She narrowed her eyes, and raised her weapon toward the dragon slayer. The rest of the guild hall's occupants, except Mirajane, had evacuated. Oh, and Lucy.

She had remained frozen from the moment that Erza had walked in the door. Lucy had never been one to be so frightened she couldn't move. No, that wasn't really the reason she wasn't moving. She was the only thing standing in between the two monsters.

Okay, that was really a reason for getting the hell out of there, but at the same time it wasn't. They wouldn't just come at her, would they? _Would they?!_

"You there," said Erza in a very commanding tone, "What are you still doing here?"

"Me?" Lucy squeaked, pointing a finger toward herself.

"Yes, you!" Erza answered, a sly side smirk sliding across her face. Her right eye was hooded by her red bangs. The other muddled grey eye was narrowed, due to her eyebrow lowering.

"Uh... Nothing!" she claimed, sliding over to the side of the guild hall and hugging the wall for dear life, "Ignore me, please!"

"Oi, Lucy!" cried Natsu, "Get the hell outa the way, or you're going to get busted!" Erza nodded in agreement.

"WHAAAT?!"

Erza sighed heavily, before straightening, putting up her sword, and marching over to Natsu. Natsu braced himself in response, ready for whatever attack she was choosing. She walked right past him.

"I will fight you later. I need to see Master Makarov," she said shortly, her back turned to him. He was shocked, and a little disappointed; he had been looking forward to their fight.

"Erza..." he said. She walked up one of the two giant staircases, but her only response was a twitch of her head.

"Natsu," Lucy called at him, "That was a little early to end your fight, huh?!"

"Oh, buzz off!" he taunted back, "Erza just realized I would completely kick her ass so she bailed!"

"Which is why you let her go?"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah."

"Okay...'

Lucy sighed. She wasn't sure what to say back. It was a very awkward moment. Then she realized that she didn't have to. Natsu always had something to say.

"Anyway, I'm bored! Let's go find some ice cream," he declared, probably not even caring if _she _wanted ice cream or not.

"Oh, fine," Lucy relented. In fact, she did want ice cream.

They left the guild, Lucy grinning as she tried to keep up with Natsu, and Natsu grinning just as much. Until he ordered, quite loudly, that she was to pay for the ice cream. Then the peacefully romantic scene changed. It now consisted of Lucy, her whip out, as well as Taurus, running after a laughing Natsu. The pedestrians sweat-dropped.

* * *

_One week later, the first day of school._

* * *

"Natsuuuuuu!" cried Lucy, waving to him from the other side of the front yard of the partial boarding school. He spotted her, and grinned back, waving. It took him a bit to run over to her.

"Why are we smiling and waving?" he whispered, a suspicious tone to his voice. He was still smiling and waving.

Lucy promptly invented the infamous 'Lucy Kick'.

"OOWWWW!" Natsu cried, being sent off to the far reaches of the school, his ass smoking.

Lucy sighed, attempting to regain her composure. Then, she entered the school, ignoring the awed crowd of students making a path for her.

By the time homeroom started, Natsu had returned. He was very messed up. Lucy frowned. That must have been a hard kick. The weird part was, he still managed to grin at her when he saw her. This confused Lucy.

"Hey, Luigi!"

"NATSUUUUUU!" she yelled/growled, lifting up her desk in a very barbaric manner.

"Aaaaggghhhh!" protested Natsu, as the desk met his face. The desk and his face had a nice reunion later, but that's another story.

"MY NAME IS LUCY, IDIOT!"

By this time, she was standing over him, her foot on his back. He was on his stomach on the ground, his limbs sprawled out like a squashed spider. The teacher was late, so the class was cheering her on.

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

"FIGHT!"

"FIGHT!"

"BEAT HIS ASS!"

Lucy sighed. Her classmates were reading the situation wrong. There was no way in hell she was going to beat up Natsu seriously. She took her foot off of him and held her hand out.

The class suddenly became silent.

"Come on," she said, raising an eyebrow, "Nalu."

"Nalu?" he grunted, "The hell is that?" He took her hand.

"I thought it was your name."

Natsu grinned. "Well, then, Luigi, thank you."

Smiling sarcastically, she let go of his hand, making him fall back on the ground. He whined, grumbling something about how she could never get a joke and frowning at her.

"You're a guy, right? You can get up on your own," she huffed, strutting back to her seat. Natsu pushed himself up, trying to hide the smile that refused to stop spreading across his face. He seemed to remember a strangely similar situation in which he was the one helping Lucy up.

Mirajane frowned at the sight before her. Here was Lucy, being adorable as always, sitting back at her seat. She was glowing with happiness. And there was Natsu, grinning stupidly to himself. This was... This was... A PAIRING!

She realized that this was meant to be. Of course, it would never happen unless they had some... help. A lot of it.

And of course, she could give this assistance. She was, of course, their homeroom teacher.

"Alright Juniors! If you don't want to get killed in your third semester of high school, I suggest that you listen to what I have to say."

"EEEEHHHH?! MIRA?!" yelled a very surprised Natsu

"Mr. Dragneel, is there a problem?" asked Mirajane, tilting her head to the side and giving him a very suspicious smile. Lucy swore she saw him shiver.

"No, ma'am," he said, his eyes wide as he sat down. Maybe he was mimicking a puppy?

Mira nodded in approval. "Okay, then. Here's precautionary measures!"

She then went on to explain how to deal with getting bullied, how to deal with love triangles, when and where to ask someone out, and how to kiss. Lucy was fairly certain she was not the only horrified person in the classroom. She also mentioned several times how she was _certain _that they had all dealt with such things. Lucy cringed.

"Next week is sex-ed!"

"NOOOO!" Natsu screamed in agony, covering his ears, "I'M TOO INNOCENT FOR THIS BULLSHIT!"

"Oh, shut up, Natsu," Mira chided, "I was just kidding. I can be your lovely students' love counsel, though. It _should _be my official position, but" - she sniffed - "those dumb school board members won'tallow it!"

Lucy swore she heard someone mutter, "Maybe that's a good thing." That made her grin.

She turned, trying to see who it was that had said that. A tall blue-haired boy who was sitting right behind her caught her eye. He had a weird tattoo under his right eye, and green eyes. He was also wearing quite a smirk, and looked too old to be a Junior.

"The name's Jellal," he whispered at her, his smirk still in place. She frowned at him. He looked like a gang kid, probably held back a couple of years. Turning back to face forward, she swore she saw him scowl.

By fourth period Lucy was certain he was stalking her. This Jellal guy didn't go to his own class; he just went and followed her around. He was definitely a senior, but she wasn't sure how he got into the Junior classrooms unnoticed by any of the teachers or other students. It was almost as if they ignored him. Lucy found it very hard to pretend he wasn't there. She could practically _feel _his stare on her, making her hairs on the back of her neck prickle in discomfort.

It was probably half-way into fifth that Natsu began to notice her unease. He approached her during their lunch period, his ever-present patterned scarf wrapped around his mouth and nose, covering them and making him look like a dork. He tip-toed over to her table where she was sitting, alone. She had made a fuss of Jellal following her earlier and effectively warded off anyone who was going to talk to her. And Levy and Erza were in other years. Everyone was gone except Natsu...

"_Lucy!_" he whispered/yelled in her direction. She glared at him.

"Are you supposed to be a ninja or something? Because you look stupid."

Natsu jumped up from his hiding position and pointed a finger at him accusingly. "You just jeopardized the mission! What the hell is your problem?!"

"What mission?!" Lucy demanded, standing up from her seat, "I have no clue what you're talking about!"

"Come with me."

Lucy was about to refuse his request flatly and continue eating her lunch, but she unwisely caught his eye and melted. His big black eyes were like a puppy's, adorable and pleading. She couldn't say no.

"Fine," she relented. Natsu's face lit up and he materialized beside her and grabbed her hand. To her utter surprise, she felt her face heat up until it was as hot as a volcano. She lowered her head so that her bangs covered her face, hopefully. All she could think about was that NATSU was holding her hand, and he was _not _going to see her blush. No way in hell.

"Lucy?" asked Natsu, almost innocently. He noticed her face and couldn't stop a tint of pink from spreading across his own cheeks. His eyes widened at his own reaction. His palms suddenly felt very sweaty.

"N-nothing," she insisted, not putting her head up, "Let's just go.. wherever you wanted to go."

"Uh- Yeah..." Natsu was about to say something else, but he decided against it suddenly. The pink tint on his face darkened at the thought. He tugged her hand and pulled her down the hall. She didn't struggle or resist.

Murmuring suddenly began in the cafeteria after the duo had left. The kids were surprised to see that Natsu and Lucy had such a close bond, and discussed it thoroughly for the rest of their meal. Meanwhile, a lone girl stood at the entrance, her face filled with shock.

"Natsu..."

"Come on, Lucy," cried Natsu as he tugged on Lucy's wrist. She scowled at him. Sure, he could run faster than the track team, but he didn't have to show off!

"Hey, Natsu! Remember the LAST time you did this to me?! It didn't end well!"

Natsu ignored her and kept pulling her toward the East wing of the school. Lucy was slightly worried; sixth period was starting soon and she didn't want to be late for a class the first day of school.

Finally, finally, finally he stopped in front of a wall of lockers.

"Here we are!" he announced, grinning. His eyes widened at the sight of her hand tucked in his. He abruptly dropped it, earning a confused look from her.

"What are we doing here?" Lucy inquired, rubbing her sore wrist. Natsu winked at her and typed in the passcode. The green lock clicked and the door creaked open.

Lucy opened her mouth to say something, but Natsu put his finger to his mouth and shushed her. She raised an eyebrow at this action, but let it pass. He pointed inside the cavernous inside of the old locker, and her brown eyes widened.

"What... is it?"

"This is Happy!"

A very strange cat jumped straight out of the locker and into Natsu, hugging him and crying tears of happiness. The freaking cat was bright blue and had an abnormally large head.

Lucy screamed as Happy jumped toward her.

"Aye sir! Natsu's friend is hot!" he proclaimed.

"WHAT?!" yelled Lucy, "WHO THE HELL IS THIS CAT?!"

"He's my best friend!" answered Natsu, grabbing Happy off of her chest with an irritated smile. He then informed Happy that he was not to touch Lucy like that.

Lucy felt her face heat up as she heard that. Happy looked at both if them back and forth. He grinned knowingly.

"YOU _LIIIIIIIIIIKE _HER!"

* * *

Thanks for reading! Mondays, Mondays, I love Mondays~


	5. Mistakes

Next chapter is up! Sorry for the lateness. It was a day off.. :(

* * *

Chapter Five: Mistakes

* * *

Part One

* * *

At sixth period that day, science, Lucy was ignoring Natsu completely. Not only was he making faces at her and her lab partner, Levy McGarden, but he was also making excuses to talk to her.

"The beaker I need is by Lucy!"

"I need to ask Lucy something!"

"WHERE IS LUCY?!"

"Gah! Just shut _up _Natsu! You're being overly annoying!" Lucy yelled, her face red.

The teacher for the science class, Mrs. Landlady (No freaking kidding. That's her name.) , raised her purple eyebrows at her. "Silence is a virtue, Ms. Heartfilia, not a gift. Obviously one that you haven't been graced with or plan to gain anytime soon."

Lucy flushed, glaring at Natsu. Their relationship was not going well. Lucy was almost always pissed off at Natsu, while Natsu was usually extremely curious as to what Lucy was doing at all times. It was very irritating.

"Natsu," she whispered, trying to keep cool after Natsu's forty-seventh consecutive attempt to trade his lab partner, a shady punk guy named Gajeel Redfox, with Lucy.

"What?" he asked, curious. Lucy grabbed the sleeve of his uniform and pulled him out of the classroom. Mrs. Landlady raised her eyebrows _again, _but didn't say anything.

"What's up with you? You're trying to get near me. Why?" asked Lucy, looking up at Natsu's confused face. He blinked, kind of embarrassed.

"Nothing. I... was just trying to get time to talk with you. I wanted to ask you something."

Lucy sighed. Now or never. "So, what is it?"

Natsu gulped, obviously nervous. She could tell he hadn't actually planned this out. Wait, did that mean that... _No, _she thought exasperatedly to herself, _That's ludicrous, Lucy. Don't even think about it. You barely know each other, and he's a clueless idiot. _But part of her brain rebelled against her conscious. Maybe it was her adventurous side. She immediately switched it off so as to avoid any unnecessary involvement.

"I, uh..." Natsu started, beginning to sweat, "Well, Mirajane is hosting this party at the dorm where's she's the dorm mom and-"

"Wait, _what?!_" Lucy interrupted, "Mira's a dorm mother?!" The thought disturbed her somewhat. She wasn't sure why.

"Yeah! Of course!" insisted Natsu, momentarily gaining back his usual enthusiasm. He quickly reverted to being nervous.

"That is, um, so she's hosting this party and all. There's gonna be dancing, food, drinks, and really awesome games."

"So you want to go to this party?" inquired Lucy, "I think I'd like to go as well! It's sounds fun!"

"The party requires that we bring d-dates."

Oh. Lucy began sweating now. Natsu was scratching the back of his head.

"I don't kno-" She was cut off by a sudden sound of something breaking, in the direction of the bathrooms. The fire alarm began blaring, and the sprinklers sprayed water over everything.

"What was that?!" she yelled above the new rushing sound of water escaping. Maybe it was a pipe leak.

The door to their classroom opened suddenly, and kids came streaming out, some screaming, others trying not to. A voice came over the intercom.

"_Please proceed to the nearest exit. Begin the previously-given fire precautions. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."_

"Dammit!" swore Natsu, squinting at the water that came continuously down on his face. He sniffed, then looked down the hallway.

Lucy saw him start to go, to leave her. She was sure he was going somewhere he wasn't supposed to go. She would be alone. Mrs. Landlady and the rest of the class had left her and Natsu in the fray to find the stairwell. Heck, she couldn't even see the stairwell.

"Natsu, please!" Lucy, cried, wrapping her arms around herself. Her eyes were wide with fear. Fire... Flames... Vivid memories flashed through her mind of a burning house. Screams. Horror.

Lucy sank to her knees and onto the wet ground. Her eyes were wide and she was shaking with fear. Natsu froze at the sight. Tears leaked out of her brown eyes and onto her lap.

"W-what's wrong?" he asked, his voice laced with concern... and something else she couldn't pinpoint. And he stuttered. Natsu almost never stuttered.

"I..." she couldn't form a coherent sentence.

Natsu's black eyes softened a moment, and before she noticed anything more, he was holding her and running down the hallway.

"Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you..."

Lucy felt her eyes get droopy. Natsu had entered into a smoky area, and his footsteps were getting heavier. Maybe she was too heavy...

She closed her eyes.

"_LUCY!"_

* * *

Lucy awoke, her head pounding. She could feel a soft warm blanket covering her body almost entirely. She could feel a comfy bed under her, and a warm cloth on her forehead.

"How are you feeling?" a familiar voice asked. Lucy opened her eyes to see the sweet face of Mirajane Strauss looking down at her with a smile.

She managed to smile faintly. "My head hurts," she admitted, "But other than that I'm fine."

"I'm glad."

A jolt ran through Lucy as she realized something. "Where's Natsu?!"

"Oh," Mira said as her smile widened, "He's right here."

That was also when she noticed that she was in a hospital room. She looked across the white room, and her eyes were drawn to a pink head of hair down at the foot of her bed. Natsu seemed to have fallen asleep while leaning on her bed, because he was using it as a pillow at the moment. And he had bandages all over his arms. Lucy's eyes widened in alarm as she wondered what on earth could possibly injure him.

Mirajane sighed sadly, then mentioned how sweet Natsu was. Lucy found herself nodding subconsciously, but stopped herself abruptly. It felt odd.

"He's always taking risks," mumbled Mira, "But this was not like him."

Lucy was confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"He literally went through fire for you," the white-haired bartender insisted.

The bedridden girl raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I thought he was immune to fire. Besides, he can _eat _it, right?"

Mirajane's face became worried, and looked a little bit older for a moment. "Not this time."

"_What_?"

"These flames... where different," Mirajane gulped, then continued, "Natsu couldn't consume them, nor was he immune to them."

"So he..."

Mirajane nodded.

A terrifying, cold, hard feeling dropped to the bottom of Lucy's stomach. She was supposed to be happy that she was alive and be thankful that Natsu had rescued her, but that wasn't the case. She felt dread pooling inside of her and threatened to spill over. Why was she always the reason people got hurt?

Mira noticed her discomfort, and tried to console her. "It wasn't your fault, if that's what you're thinking, Lucy. It was his decision. Hey, how about I get you some orange juice?"

Lucy nodded to the orange juice, hoping that Mirajane would mistake it as a nod to everything she said. Mirajane stood up from her waiting chair and walked across the room to the entrance. "I'll be back with the orange juice in a few minutes."

The door shut quietly behind her.

Lucy felt tears rise to her eyes. She quickly wiped them with the blanket that was covering her.

"Is she gone?"

The blonde jumped in her bed and her head shot toward the direction of the voice. Her eyes widened at the sight of Natsu Dragneel sitting up, criss-cross-applesauce, on the end of her bed. He had bandages on both sides of his face, his forehead, and all up and down his arms. Lucy winced at the sight. Natsu gave her a speculative glance, before sighing childishly.

"Mira takes everything too seriously. These" - he gestured toward the bandages on his arms - "are nothing. Nothing at all."

"Really?" questioned Lucy. Her voice was filled with concern. Natsu blinked.

"Yeah."

He leaned forward, gazing at her. "You're okay? Nothing hurts?"

"No!" Lucy promised, "I don't feel a thing!"

"Good," said Natsu, quite satisfied. After a comfortable moment of silence, his eyes travelled over her laying form. They stopped when they got to her eyes and stared. Lucy averted her gaze. Looking into his dark eyes for too long was very intense.

"You have tears in your eyes," he noted, still staring intently upon her face.

"No, I don't. Someone brought onions in here."

"REALLY?!"

"Yeah. Go get some. I'm fine."

Natsu leaned forward without warning and wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her close. Her face rested against his warm chest, and she should have been sighing contentedly. Instead her eyes were wide with surprise.

"W-what are you-"

"No," he whispered in her ear, making goosebumps appear on her back, "You aren't fine."

Well, it _was _true...

Lucy felt like, with his words, a dam had been burst. Unshed tears suddenly began filling up the rims of her eyes and spilling over. She clutched his shirt and wailed into it. She felt his hand rubbing her back and comforting her, but he wasn't saying anything. That was fine. That was what she needed.

"Lucy, I got you ext-"

Mirajane had walked into a very private moment. Lucy froze and tried to push Natsu away from her, but his arms tightened their hold. She couldn't see anything. The door opened and shut again. Apparently, Mira had left.

"It's fine," consoled Natsu as he loosened his grip on her sobbing form. He noticed she was still crying. "Woah, calm down. Don't make me say you're a baby!"

Lucy growled. "I'm" - hiccup - "not a" - hiccup - " baby."

"Uh huh," he agreed, "Just make sure that you don't cry in front of everyone else."

"Why is that?" she asked shakily. That was a confusing statement for her.

"Because, uh..." Natsu thought a moment. "Because you need to be strong, but when I'm here, you don't have to be."

Lucy's eyes widened and she blushed. Natsu then realized what he had just said.

"I mean.. I uh..." Natsu spluttered, not able to get the words out. He was embarrassed, and it clearly showed through the pink tint that was spreading quickly over his entire head.

Lucy giggled at this. A flustered Natsu was nothing but entertaining.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!" he demanded, his head bursting into flames. This only made her laugh harder, until tears came to her eyes from happiness and laughing too much. She wiped them off, smiling.

"Thank you, Natsu," she said, her eyes shining.

"So," Natsu began, clearing his throat, "About that party."

"You still wanna go? I'll come with you."

"Well, that's the issue. The party was yesterday night."

"What?!" Lucy exclaimed, "So I've been asleep for an entire day?!" She saw through the blinds that the sun was setting outside. Soon the crime rate would rise by the hour. Her lip curled.

"Yeah, thought that doesn't mean we can't go to a party. There's one at Fairy Tail tonight," said Natsu, his eyes brightening.

"Do you have to bring a d-date?"

"Naw," he pushed that thought aside, apparently, "Makarov isn't that demanding. Only Mirajane would insist something like that."

"Right," Lucy agreed, sighing. She shifted, noticing that the position they were in was very... close. She could feel her cheeks heating up. But he was really warm, and she was cold. It looked like her best option was to stay where she was. Being at the close proximity they were, it wasn't that hard for her to lean forward just a little bit, and rest her head on Natsu's chest.

"Hmmm," she sighed contentedly, her cheek on his soft shirt. She inhaled, and noticed he smelled... really good. She was feeling sleepy again.

"Uh, L-lucy?!" Natsu questioned. Lucy looked up sluggishly, blinking her big eyes slowly. She noticed he looked really surprised, and even a little uncomfortable.

_Oh_. He didn't... He didn't... think that...

She pushed herself away from him, and leaned back on her pillow, her eyes veiled. "Thank you for visiting me. It's okay if you leave now," she said.

"You sure?" asked Natsu, ever surprised at Lucy's behavior. His eyes were wide.

Lucy closed her eyes, and waved him off. He blinked, still sitting on her bed.

"Oh, okay," he muttered, sliding off of her bed and onto the cold floor. He was barefoot, but he walked right out into the hallway and out the hospital door. The nurses and receptionist tried to stop him, but he brushed past them and took no notice. Nothing really mattered at the moment. Lucy didn't want him there.

* * *

Lucy sat up in her hospital bed, her eyes very wide. She was shocked. Shocked at what she'd just done. Shocked at what he'd just done. And shocked at the outcome. One moment, they'd been hugging, then she'd felt uncomfortable and now he was leaving the hospital. It didn't make any sense.

_Why was she so stupid sometimes?_

* * *

Ahhhhh... Next chapter ends Part 1. I'll take a break of 2 weeks before publishing Part 2.


	6. Captured!

There's a 2 week break before I publish the first chapter of part 2, chapter 7. That will be... on the 14th of July. :D Thanks for reading!

* * *

**Chapter Six: Captured!**

* * *

PART ONE

* * *

A week. One whole week. That was the amount of time that Lucy hadn't seen Natsu. That Jellal guy was missing as well. She really shouldn't be feeling this crappy. Everything seemed to be surreal, like it wasn't even really happening.

The night he left her in her hospital was the last time she saw him before... before _that _happened. Her stomach fluttered at the memory, as it threatened to come back. Oh, great, now she was getting a flashback.

* * *

_FLASHBACK_

* * *

"_Hey, Lu-chan! You're here!"_

_Her lab partner, Levy. Lucy turned her head toward her and smiled, waving._

"_Hey, Levy! Yeah, I had to walk alone from the hospital. Mirajane disappeared."_

"_WHAT?!" Levy cried, filled with rage, "Natsu didn't take you?!"_

_Lucy felt a weight drop in her stomach. It was an unpleasant feeling that made her feel really guilty. "No," she said in a small voice._

_Levy began fuming, her hair practically spontaneously combusting. She was obviously furious. Lucy flinched at the tone of her next outburst._

"_Damn him! He let you walk alone on a Monday night?! I'll kill him!"_

_And she stomped off. Lucy was left to rub her arms and glance around at the party-goers. It hadn't really started, but several people were already passed out from drinking too much. One of them was Cana and another was Gray, surprisingly... Lucy shook her head. Too many of these kids were drinking underage. It wasn't like she could talk, or do anything about it though. She decided to let it slide. This was a party, anyway._

_And that was when she saw Natsu._

_He was looking kind of depressed, leaning against one of the wooden pillars. His bangs were covering his eyes. She walked up to him slowly, cautiously. He raised his head to look at her. Almost immediately, a flash of hurt crossed his features, his eyebrow cocked._

"_Natsu," she began, her cheeks flushing, "I wanted to say..."_

"_What is it?" he sighed, all depressed-looking. Even more than he had been a few seconds before. She couldn't help but notice that his pupils dilated - not that she would be _looking _forthat type of thing - and his nostrils were flared. It was kind of like he was desperately trying not to do what he wanted to do. It was really cute._

_Something deep within Lucy snapped at that moment. She glared up at Natsu, her face full of hurt and maybe a little regret._

"_I know it kind of sounded like I might have not wanted you there back at the hospital, but that isn't the truth!"_

"_Then _what is_?"_

_Natsu's answer honestly surprised her. It wasn't... like him. She was slightly taken aback, but gulped and tried to answer him._

"_I just... wanted to be alone for a while. I'm sorry if you were offended," she insisted, looking down._

"_Well, whatever it was, it wasn't nice. You really can't treat your friends like that," he said, his eyes veiled. His shoulders were shaking, giving the impression that he was very upset. He had also put his arms across his chest._

"_I know, Natsu. I'm really sorry."_

"_Right..." he trailed off. They were both silent for a moment._

"_Wanna get something to drink?"_

_It was an innocent question. Lucy really meant to ask was if he wanted some water or something. He took it the completely wrong way._

"_Suuuurre... I'll buy..."_

_It wasn't even ten minutes before they were both drunk. Well, then again, it was Fairy Tail they were at. What could happen?_

_A _lot, _apparently._

_When she woke up, her head was pounding and something warm was wrapped around her. She was fairly certain that she was laying on the wooden floor in the guild hall. The warm thing that was wrapped around her waist was most likely someone's arm. She opened her eyes and yelped in surprise, seeing that Natsu's face was centimeters from her own. He was definitely still asleep, and snoring quite loudly. There were no other noises, but the only reason she could see anything was because the sun was shining through the tall windows and brightened sections of the floor._

_Lucy shifted, moaning as a wave of nausea hit her suddenly. Natsu's arm tightened around her as his eyes lazily opened. She froze at the sight of him. His bloodshot eyes widened._

* * *

_END OF FLASHBACK_

* * *

Lucy rubbed her forehead and sighed deeply. She really didn't want to think about what had happened after that. What was she going to say to Natsu when she saw him again? No, _if _she saw him again. It wasn't like they _did _anything, but still. It wasn't something she'd just get over easily.

Lucy clutched her school bag closer to her chest as she walked, alone, to school. She kept glancing from side to side, worried about stalkers and creepers. She really wished that Natsu was there, probably from her insecurities. He was always making excuses to escort her from the dormitories to the school grounds. She usually made loud protests, but the truth was she liked it.

Everything was so confusing. Lucy needed to find Natsu, and tell him just how important he was. She hadn't even gotten to ask him why he was involved in all the gang business. Sure, he was a mage, but why couldn't he join some organization like the police force? Then again, he really wasn't the kind of person to join any sort of organized group. Fairy Tail suited him well.

But did it suit _her_? This question always made Lucy feel uneasy. Natsu and the others seemed to just click, like they really belonged in Fairy Tail. No, they _did _belong in Fairy Tail; it was obvious. Lucy did love Fairy Tail, and she really enjoyed being involved, but her mission was a little different from the anti-gang's. She wasn't there to rid the city of crime, she was there to avoid her father's control. She thought that if she met with the safest place in a very unsafe town, he would stay away.

Even so, she hadn't actually been to Fairy Tail for over a week.

And that wasn't even the beginning of her troubles! Part of the school had been burnt badly by some unknown source. The immediate suspect was Natsu, but he'd been burned when he rescued Lucy, so it couldn't have been him. But it definitely didn't help his case when he stopped coming to school and disappeared. Levy had too. She'd looked for her everywhere, but hadn't been able to find her. She was really worried.

"Oi, where the hell do you think you're going?!"

Lucy bumped into a muscular hard chest, veering her off her original course and onto her knees. She had been thinking so hard that she hadn't noticed that she wasn't looking where she was going.

"Agh! I'm sorry," she pleaded, "I wasn't looking where I was going."

She raised her head to look at whoever she had just smashed into. It was that weird kid, Gajeel. Natsu's lab partner. He had a sinister grin on his face that made her feel uneasy. She stood and slowly backed away.

From around the alley corner, another figure appeared. She was female, with blue hair that was curled at the ends. She was holding an umbrella with one hand, even though it wasn't raining, and her blue eyes seemed... lost. And now that Lucy looked up, she noticed that it really had started to rain.

"Um, hello?" she said nervously. The situation was very odd. It didn't feel right at all. Lucy felt like a deer, frozen in time in front of some huge pick up truck on the road. She couldn't move, even though she was absolutely certain she _had _to. Every single part of her brain was screaming at her to run, but she couldn't

Lucy's eyes shot toward the entrance to the school building, surveying how far away it was and how long it would take her to reach there. Strangely, the school yard was empty. It was odd, but she brushed that thought off. She would have to find some way around Gajeel, and, from the way that weird girl was glaring at her, would have to avoid her as well. She cringed at the thought of Gajeel catching her. He didn't exactly look like the nicest person on earth. The piercings were probably a very large factor of that.

"You wanna come with us?"

The question was obviously directed toward Lucy, but she didn't want to admit that she had heard it. Gajeel's voice was rough and forceful, which made her wonder offhandedly if he smoked. She didn't look up at him.

"I said, come with us!" Gajeel yelled again. This time his voice sounded much closer to her. She flinched and muttered sarcastically about how that wasn't what he'd said the first time.

Suddenly, she felt a hard hand grab her wrist. Lucy raised her head and tried pulling her hand away, assuming a fighting stance, but soon saw it was useless. Gajeel's other arm had turned into... a saw?! Her eyes widened as she realized the worst: Gajeel was a mage, and a powerful one at that. For some reason, she only now remembered that she had her keys, and her hand subconsciously reached toward the ring attached to her belt that held her keys.

A second later, Lucy heard a snapping noise and the next thing she knew she was laying on the ground, her consciousness slipping away. She reached out across the concrete sidewalk, trying to grab something non-existent. Then she saw the ruby red eyes gleaming, before everything faded to black.

* * *

"Wake up, Lucy."

"_Luce._"

"Lucy, wake up!"

"_Luce!"_

Lucy's eyes slowly opened, her head pounding with the beat of her heart, the blood pulsing through her body. Her body felt like lead; heavy and unmovable. It was dark. So, very dark that she could see anything. It was pitch black, like someone had torn that evil villain's name from that damned children's christmas movie about guardians. (0_0 NO. I don't watch kid's shows... Nuh-UH...)

She wasn't sure how or why, but the voice that had rudely pulled her out of her slumber sounded exactly like Natsu's. She was certain now that it was something she had heard in her head. It felt weird when she realized that a voice in her head had woken her up. She wondered if she was going crazy, but decided not to think about that.

"Luuuuccyyyy!"

Oh, god. There it was again. Maybe Lucy really was going crazy. This was definitely a possibility, though one she was unlikely to admit to.

Slowly, she came to the conclusion that the voice wasn't actually Natsu's. It was still coming from inside of her head... but it wasn't that familiar voice she was accustomed to hearing outside of her dorm every morning. In fact... it sounded a whole lot like...

"Loke?" Lucy called, her voice barely above a whisper. She squinted her eyes, attempting to see into the darkness, but failing once again.

There wasn't an answer to her call.

"_Loke?!_" She was louder this time. This time, something answered back.

"Lucy?! Is that you?"

Lucy let out a sigh of relief. She could definitely hear Loke's words. Even though he didn't exactly sound calm, it was still consoling to listen to the familiar voice speaking to her at a time like this. She reached her hands out into the cold darkness.

"Loke! I'm here! Where are you?!"

"Shhhh," said Loke quietly, "They can hear you, but they can't hear me. Try to keep it down, okay?"

Lucy agreed, silently wondering why Loke couldn't be heard by anyone else. Then it hit her. He was speaking directly into her mind. The thought of that kind of frightened her, but she decided not to voice those thoughts.

"Loke," she whispered, careful to be quiet. Loke was her most trusted Celestial Spirit, the Lion of the Zodiac, and she wasn't one to disobey his instructions; they were for her own good.

"Yes?"

"Where am I?"

There was a pause. Lucy was about to say something else, but then Loke spoke up again.

"In a... dungeon," he insisted. Lucy raised an eyebrow at this. She didn't react, instead she waited for him to continue expectantly.

"And?" she prompted.

"Under the city," said Loke, his voice shaking. Finally, he broke. "Lucy, we have no idea where you are! I know that you're in danger, but I... I..." He trailed off.

"Loke," whispered Lucy, a small smile gracing her lips, "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"A-are you sure?"

"Yes. Just make sure that you're okay, and then I'll find my way to you."

She could almost picture his reluctant nod. "Fine."

"Now, could you disconnect? I need to be completely focused for a moment," she insisted.

"Yes Lucy."

Lucy could feel his mind break off from hers. A cold, lonely air settled around her and she sat up and brought her knees to her chest. She hugged her chest and sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks as her heart throbbed uncontrollably. She had no idea where she was or how to get out, or even _if _she would get out. She had no clue what was going on, or why she was there, or if she would see anyone she loved once more.

She didn't know if she would ever see Natsu again.

* * *

THANKS FOR READINGGGG!~ I'm going to publish a really funny one shot on the 14th of July as well! ^.^ Just as an advanced warning.

The next six chapters (part 2) will be from Natsu's POV.


	7. Officially an Idiot

Welcome to part 2! This part is in Natsu's POV. Have fun reading!

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Officially an Idiot**

* * *

PART TWO

* * *

(BTW: This is a pretty short transition chapter. Just to let you know, that's why the length is a bit off.)

* * *

It sucked. It _really_ freaking sucked.

Natsu didn't generally wonder about things. But then again, Natsu didn't generally do much of anything. He was a more abstract, in-the-moment type of guy. Aw, that was bullshit anyway. He was impulsive. He didn't think through everything he was supposed to. He always paid for it dearly, too, by losing something important to him.

Including _her. _

He shook his head, not wanting to remember either of the painful memories that were really knocking on his door... Whatever that meant.

Natsu lifted his head and straightened his back and legs, trying to see above the crowd he was standing in. He mentally cursed his normal height, as it provided a substantial disadvantage when he was trying to _see over people._

There was some sort of commotion going on downtown, but due to his height he couldn't be sure exactly what it was. That actually wasn't the main part of his problems at the moment, though. His mind seemed to be focused outwardly on this traffic and what he needed to find out. However, on the inside, he was in turmoil. His thoughts turned from his situation with Phantom Lord, to Lucy. And further on to Lucy. And more Lucy.

It was kind of embarrassing admitting it, but he couldn't get her out of his head.

Natsu was very confused. He didn't know where Lucy was, and honestly he didn't think he'd be able to face her after what happened last night. _Naw, _he told himself, _You'd be able to at least _face _her. She'd just beat the shit out of you after she hugged you. Nothing big._

Yeah, right. Nothing big. Nothing at all...

It was strange. He'd never really felt this way before. He would always wonder what it was like to feel this way about someone. It pulled him and made him do things he normally wouldn't do. But like he said before, he was impulsive. That kind of stuff didn't have any effect on him... right? RIGHT?! He wasn't so sure anymore.

"What the hell is goin' on?" the pink-haired dragonslayer muttered to himself, still trying to push through the dense crowd. He was near Fairy Tail, but an ominous gloom surrounded him. That, and the smoke coming from that general direction made him uneasy.

A large somebody bumped into him, knocking him over into a very nice faceplant. He growled threateningly, but looked up into the face of a very concerned Elfman. He was Mirajane's older brother, and obsessed with being a man. Anything manly worked for him. Said brother cocked an eyebrow at Natsu expectantly.

"Men can handle being knocked down," Natsu groaned. It was the only way to avoid being smashed. Oh, but he could TOTALLY own Elfman. He just didn't feel like challenging him right at that moment. And NO, there was nothing wrong with him!

Elfman nodded and grunted in approval, crossing his arms proudly. He frowned deeply, looking down at Natsu with an odd face.

"Oi," said Natsu, standing up and brushing himself off, "What's with that look? What's wrong? Something happen? You lose a drinking contest to Cana again?"

"Come on," said Elfman, sometimes a man of few words. He grabbed Natsu by the elbow and picked him up off of the ground. He then heaved him above his head so that he was carrying him above the crowd. No one dared to contest to him walking through.

Natsu, on the other hand, wasn't happy. He felt an awful lot like a rag doll, so he tried straightening his limbs. This only made him look like a stick doll.

"Elfmaa-a-aan..." he growled low in his throat. He was being bounced up and down as Elfman took each step, his words bumpy and broken up.

And then he was set down on the hard concrete. His face was scrunched up in pain as he stood up and brushed his butt off. He straightened his stance and got ready to punch Elfman into oblivion when...

_No way..._

It was devastated. The guild hall, _his guild hall, _was ruined. Large chunks and pillars of what seemed to be smoking metal stuck out in all directions, obviously thrown in by something. Natsu glanced in Elfman's direction, only to see that his expression was grave. He turned his pink head and saw that Mirajane and Master Makarov were standing over on the other side of the gate by the wall. An even denser crowd surrounded the spot by the wall where the graffiti picture Reedus had made was. He moved toward them, worried.

When Natsu saw it, his jaw went slack. His eyes widened in a mixture of anger, shock, and possibly a small bit of fear. _Why would someone _do _something like this?_

Red streaks lined out a few, simple words on the wall, right over the faces of his friends and guildmates. Her body was hanging over the side of the wall, limp and bruised. Her once-vibrant blue hair was dirty and messed up. And her hands... _her hands... _Natsu closed his eyes, ready to smash the wall into pieces, but he had to control himself. He tried deep breathing. When he opened his eyes again, an ambulance had arrived, and the paramedics were scrambling to load Levy into the back. Natsu's eyes strayed toward the despicable words on the wall once again. He felt the rage inside him build.

_YOUR LUCY IS DEAD_

He glared at those words, almost enough that his eyes burned holes into the brick. They _were not true. _They didn't make any sense at all. She wasn't dead. He'd seen her last night. Very closely, in fact.

Natsu ripped his mind away from thoughts of the evening before, and instead focusing on what needed to happen in the present. He needed to find the bastards that did this and kill them DEAD. He clenched his fists so hard they bled.

And then he stormed out into the streets recklessly, not even caring that he was drawing more attention than he needed to. He heard Elfman's voice, warning him, along with Erza's and Mirajane's. He heard the voices of the crowd, murmuring as one. And he heard the voice in his head, probably his conscience, telling him repeatedly that Lucy was in trouble, and needed saving. Apparently his brain had made the automatic connection that if she was threatened, she was dead.

Thirty minutes later, Natsu was creeping around the side of the school building, trying to figure out where Lucy's classroom was. It was second period by now, just after homeroom. He decided she was most likely in science, so he snuck around the east corner and peeped in through the dirty glass.

There she was.

She was sitting in her usual seat, looking bored. But she was beautiful.

Natsu smacked himself. He sounded so _sappy_ that he was just about ready to kill himself for it. The self-slap woke him up, so that he could pay more attention. Yes. Lucy. She was probably being targeted, and it was his duty to protect her. He felt really relieved that she was alright. He had assumed the worst when the message was drawn on the wall... _with Levy's blood._

He grit his teeth, suppressing the urge to scream and go on a rampage. Levy, Lucy's lab partner, one of her best friends, had been violated and injured. And, even worse, Lucy didn't even know. He managed to calm himself down enough to peer through the window again. He saw Lucy's face, and winced. She had dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, and she kept glancing at Levy's seat and his like both of them would show up at any moment.

But he knew that wouldn't happen, not for a long while. He had a mission, an objective, now. If he wasted his time in school, it would never be achieved.

_I'm sorry, Luce._

Natsu backed away from the window, certain that Lucy was okay, and began jogging down the side of the school. He was on his way to examine the burnt parts of the school, when he realized something: what was all this for?

_It's for her, you idiot, _he told himself, but there was some part of him that rebelled against that notion. _No, not for her. This is selfish. It's for you._

He thought back to the time when he'd gotten into this recent mess.

* * *

_FLASHBACK_

* * *

"_Lucy..." he breathed. He felt hot. Too hot, which was strange for him, mostly because he was a fire mage._

_Her brown eyes were wide with wonder, like she was watching a particularly beautiful scene of a movie. She was so long gone, but then again so was he. His fingers curled around a strip of her blonde hair, twisting it and playing with it._

"_What, Natsu?" she breathed back._

"_You have pretty hair..."_

_She giggled, and he could smell the fruity drink he'd bought her half an hour prior. He smiled at that memory._

"_Really... It smells like-" he paused and smelled her hair, "-strawberries. Why does it smell like strawberries?"_

"_Um, I honestly have no idea. Now could you g-get off me?"_

_She finally noticed their position. Natsu squeezed her again, clinging to her. "But I'm so coooold..." That was a total lie. He was burning up._

_She sighed. "Oh, fine."_

_He shifted so that his arm was laying over her body, across her stomach. The floor of the rowdy guild hall was hard, but that didn't matter at the moment._

"_Hey, lovebirds! Get up off the floor!"_

"_Whaaaat?" Natsu whined, "Why?!"_

"_We're about to have a drinking contest!"_

_It was barely a millisecond before they were both standing, their eyes shining. They could win this damn thing..._

_or maybe not._

_While Lucy went off to go try to outdrink some random member, Natsu leaned back against the bar, swaying to the music that was slowing down. His eyes were half-lidded, but he was smiling softly. He felt so... calm._

"_Oi."_

_It was Gajeel's voice._

"_Hey, what the heeeeell are you doin' here?" demanded Natsu in a hushed tone, not wanting to disturb the tone in the room._

"_You're the one trying to find Igneel, right?"_

_Natsu's entire body froze. His mind as well as his body. The only thought that was crossing his brain at that moment was how the HELL did Gajeel know that? He'd never told that to anyone except... Oh, god. _

"_So... What about it?"_

"_We think we know where he is. And if you don't comply, _she'll _see hell."_

* * *

_END OF FLASHBACK_

* * *

Natsu sighed uncharacteristically. He rubbed his forehead as he finished jogging and reached the other side of the massive campus, where the burned remains of that section of the school stood. Smoke and char marks outlined the basic places the fire was. The darkest part revealed where the fire started, right in the hallway. His eyes roamed the area, the way he did so reminding him of someone.

"_Natsu, what are you doing?!"_

"_Hey, Natsu, when can we go find Igneel?"_

"_Wouldn't it be fun if we were a Mommy and Daddy in real life?"_

"_Natsu, you're funny."_

"_Here, if you want to know how to find something, you have to search the whole area with your eyes. You have super great eyes, right?"_

"_Please don't go!"_

"_Natsu?"_

"_Natsu?!"_

"_NATSU!"_

He tightened his eyes. He really couldn't deal with this at the moment. Reminding himself that he was short on time, he shakily began searching the burnt area again, desperately. He _had _to find what he was looking for. The only way to solve this was to find it.

A faint glimmer caught his eye. He rushed over to the spot by the old teacher's lounge and snatched the source of the reflection up. He turned the gem over in his hand a few times, admiring it's unique qualities, before stuffing it in the pocket of his jeans and striding out of the school yards, certain to take no unnecessary detours.

Before he left for the heart of the city he passed by Lucy's classroom again. He peeked in through the window and smiled when he saw that she was paying attention to the lesson. But the next second her face became sorrowful and she glanced at his empty spot. A frown crossed his features.

* * *

THANKS FOR READINGGGG! Next chapter is out next Monday. Same schedule. Chapter 12 will end part 2, and there's going to be another 2 week break.


	8. A Time and Place for Adventure

Chapter Eight: **A Time and Place for Adventure**

* * *

**PART TWO**

* * *

"_Hey, Natsu! Wake up, silly!"_

_He lifted his face to __see the young girl, her bright eyes shining with excitement._

"_What is it, L-"_

_She cut him off and covered his mouth with her small hands. Her short, light hair framed her face perfectly, accented by her smile and beautiful eyes. She giggled and removed her hands from his now blushing face._

"_Um, then let's go play for a while. I'm boooored!" he cried, rubbing his eyes and yawning when he said 'bored.' The little girl smiled, a pink tint appearing on her cheeks. For almost as long as she could remember, she'd been friends with the little boy. They were inseparable. And recently, they had added a new member to their small circle of friends consisting initially of each other._

"_That's sounds good, but first..." the girl trailed off. She grabbed the boy's hand and pulled him up. They stood under the slide, that was now glowing red as the setting sun's light shone through the plastic._

"_Let's go find Lisanna first, kay?"_

_He watched as her blonde hair flashed in the sunlight, and smiled._

* * *

Natsu woke in a cold sweat, breathing hard, his eyes wide. _What the hell was that? _he wondered, grasping at the blankets that lay over him. He ripped them off, sitting up on the cot that he'd spent the night on. His breathing was uneven, like a car motor that was losing it's ability to work quickly. He finally calmed his lungs down enough to look around. He'd slept in the garage at Makarov's mechanic shop, which was situated on the other side of the Fairy Tail gang building. It was a cover story for their emergency main base, but there were actually cars and motors around there. A long row of cots was put behind a false wall, which was where he was now.

He stood and straightened his jeans, T-shirt, and scarf, while at the same time trying to straighten his thoughts. What had he just remembered? It felt like a memory of his own, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember when it had happened. The little girl... had mentioned Lisanna. She had even looked really familiar...

His eyes widened in realization.

_But _her_? _he thought, panic rising in his gut, _Why? Why would she be here? _Why?

It didn't make any sense. But it didn't matter; he needed to make sure she was safe and continue his mission. The mission that he'd been trying to accomplish his entire life.

Finding his father, Igneel.

* * *

"_Come on, Natsu. I'll leave you behind!"_

"_I'm coming, Dad!"_

"_Sure," he chuckled, "You'll probably be here in about thirty minutes at the rate you're tying your shoes."_

"_Slow down while I tie them," Natsu whined, desperately trying to tie his shoelaces. _

"_Okay... Do I need to go get Lucy?"_

"_NO!"_

"_Fine, fine. Touchy, are we?"_

* * *

Natsu felt himself sigh, deep in his chest and into his diaphragm. He really couldn't think about this right then. So he decided to distract himself. He resolved to go find something to eat.

In case anyone was wondering, he'd dropped Happy off at Wendy's Cat Place. Happy was surprisingly happy at the little shop, considering that one of the only other occupants was the owner's cat, Charla. He didn't think much of it, but she could also speak like a human...

He walked along the dank streets of Magnolia, eying the sidewalk ahead of him that was quickly becoming dotted by little speckles of sunlight. The light of dawn peeked through the clouds that riddled the sky overhead. It was about 5:30 in the morning, he guessed, about the time most breakfast joints were already at work and the druggies were finishing up business. The gangs would've all been back long ago, which made him wonder why Fairy Tail didn't act more like a gang. They were supposed to be fooling the real gangs, but had apparently failed due to the fact that they acted more like one of those magic guilds than a gang.

But that wasn't the issue at the moment. The issue was finding breakfast.

Natsu, either by coincidence or not, found his way over to the very diner that he had met Lucy Heartfilia a few weeks ago. No, he hadn't met her there. Though they both seemed to have forgotten, they'd met long ago. Natsu had just begun to remember, but whether or not Lucy had was still a mystery to him.

"What are you havin'?" asked the waitress. She was different from the last time. Must be a different shift.

"Um..." Natsu trailed off, thinking, as usual, that he didn't have any money on him. Then he remembered that Lucy had shoved several twenty dollar bills into his pocket so that he could buy food for himself when she wasn't around. "Orange juice and pancakes."

Usually he'd order something ridiculously large and eat it all, but for some reason his stomach wasn't in agreement with that. He felt uneasy for some reason. He sighed as the waitress returned with his breakfast, which he practically inhaled. He paid for the food and thanked his serverbefore exiting the restaurant, but not without stealing a glance at the table he'd met Lucy at. The memory was still fresh in his mind, like it had just happened.

Natsu walked out into the open city, his hair flapping in the wind.

_Time to begin the search._

* * *

…_.Six Days Later..._

* * *

Knocking on doors, asking around, stalking Lucy. Knocking on doors, asking around, stalking Lucy. Knocking on door, asking around, stalking L- okay, he was gonna call a duck a duck. He made sure she got to school safe every day, checked on her hourly during classes, and followed her back to her dorm. What else was that besides than stalking? And he wasn't ashamed of it, either; it was for her protection. All he was doing was making sure that she was safe. He wasn't going to take any chances with her, that was a certainty.

Natsu had been going through this routine for several days now. He was starting to doubt that the strategy would work, honestly, but he didn't know what else to do. He'd actually found one or two leads, but they were both fakes. If he wanted to find Igneel, he was going to have to work harder.

He walked down the right side of the sidewalk on his way to check on Lucy again. It was morning, and she was supposed to be in homeroom. That was, if everything was going fine. He hoped it was. No, it _was _going well. He might break if it wasn't.

Spotting something, Natsu was stopped dead in his tracks. There, on the sidewalk, which was Lucy's short path to school, was her purse. She wouldn't forget that purse,no matter where she went. Apparently she kept her keys in it, along with her whip and money. Yet there it was, lying limply on the ground. He ran as fast as he could to her classroom. Maybe she'd been distracted or something, and had accidentally dropped it. Yeah. That was it. A pessimistic part of his conscience knew this was wrong, however, he still held onto what little hope he had. His breathing was starting to pick up as the panic set it. By the time he reached the classroom she was supposed to be in, he was completely gone. The final breaking point was when he saw that she was absent.

He fell to his knees outside the school, looking dejected and lost. There was no way...

He stood up, a resolve in his eyes. He sprinted back to where her purse had been - wait. Oh, god. It was gone. The purse, his only way of finding her, was gone.

"No, dammit!" he yelled. A few students who were ditching paused to glance at him with disdain. They didn't recognize him, thankfully. He stumbled toward the edge of the bricked wall that was by the sidewalk, unsure of what to do next. Oh, bullshit. He knew he needed to find Lucy and beat the crap out of whoever had taken her, but he had no idea where to _start._

Suddenly a thought came to him, a memory. Yesterday, he'd been asking around a bar called Phantom Lord (Dumb name for a bar, I know, right? -_-) for any news of a man named Igneel. One particular conversation had been resonating in his mind for a while now. He could remember it quite well.

* * *

"_Ah, you again," said a gravelly voice. Natsu whipped his head toward the noise, finally seeing that black-haired bastard named Gajeel. Again and still, he had piercings all over his face._

"_What do _you _want?" he asked with hostility. He got a glare back._

"_Only a warning. Remember what I said the last time we met? Oh, and the remodeling that I did on your guild hall?"_

"_Yes," he said through his gritted teeth. He almost couldn't contain his anger._

"_Well, you'd best pay at least a little attention to it. Oh, and the message that I left for ya on your stupid wall."_

_He snapped. A flaming fist connected with Gajeel's face, sending him flying toward the bar counter on the other side of the large building. He crashed into the wall of expensive spirits behind the counter, shattering hundreds of bottles and spilling thousands of dollars worth of liquid. The sound reverberated across the entire room, and everything was silent._

_Gajeel stood, blood from the unexpected smash into broken glass dripping down his muscular arms. He looked at Natsu and _grinned.

* * *

Natsu didn't remember much after that. It included himself getting a nice-looking black eye, as well as Gajeel getting his ass handed to him. But no matter how hard he tried not to admit it, he had to at least acknowledge the fact that it hadn't seemed like Gajeel was at full strength. Sure, at the beginning of the fight, Natsu hadn't been doing well, trying to figure out what magic his opponent had and everything. After finding out that Gajeel possessed Iron Dragon Slayer magic (Which was a big shock, honestly...) he found a way to knock him out. But he shouldn't have gone down that easily. Natsu hadn't even been winded at the end of their fight.

Besides, all Natsu knew now was that he was going to find that bar again and beat up all the staff until they led him to Lucy.

He made his way toward the bar, knowing where it was, when a thought hit him. It wasn't very logical at all to just go rampaging into somewhere without anybody helping him. Like hell he was going to admit that, but he could say he just needed comrade's support. He made a stop by the gang hall.

"Oi, Gray! Erza! Get your butts over here!" he yelled into the basement of the hall. With a great amount of self control, he'd managed to walk through the ruining building without destroying even more of it.

"What is it this time Natsu?" yelled Gray, who was sprawled out on a bench with no clothes on. Erza's reaction was more concerned.

"Natsu! Where the hell have you been? Where's Lucy?!"

"Don't know. I'm looking for her, but I need some help," he explained. He was trying very hard to contain himself and act normally, but it was getting harder. Maybe it was the atmosphere that always surrounded Fairy Tail...

If it was possible, Erza looked even worse. She was worried, alright.

"But I think I know where she is. I just need backup."

"Woah! Natsu? Needing backup?!" cried Gray unbelievably, "Since when did _you _need backup?!"

"Never usually," he admitted, scratching the back of his head, "But I could use some. You in?"

"Yeah. Whatever."

"Of course. I will rescue Lucy at any cost."

"Okay, then let's do this thing! You with me?!"

"Wait!" screeched a high voice, "I'm coming tooo!"

A blue flying cat inserted itself into the private conversation and landed on Natsu's head. He grinned up at his friend, forgetting that he was supposed to be at the cat shelter.

"Okay then. It's settled. Erza, Gray, Happy and I are gonna bust into Phantom Lord on a rescue mission!"

* * *

THANKS FOR READINNNGGGG! Next chapter is next Monday! :)


	9. Puberty! What's that!

AAAAAAAGHHH IM SORRY THIS IS LATEEEE! (I wasn't feeling well. Again. My life is shit at the moment.)

* * *

**Chapter Nine: ****Puberty?! What's that?!**

* * *

PART TWO

* * *

"Okay so how the hell are we gonna pull this off?" questioned Gray worriedly. He still didn't have full confidence in busting into a powerful gang hall and leaving with a prisoner whose location was a mystery.

"That's what we're trying to figure out!" cried Erza in exasperation. Natsu noted that she was more uptight than usual, most likely due to Lucy's absence. He could feel his own agitation as well, and understood her irritation. He mostly just wanted to smash something, preferably Gray, into the ground.

"Right, right..." muttered Gray, still skeptical. He was messing with his thumbs nervously, which made Natsu wonder if Gray was just as disturbed as they were. The thought irked him a little bit.

"Okay, so here's the map," Natsu said in a business-like voice. He was practicing for when he... never mind. He didn't need to think about that right then.

He spread the sheet of freshly printed paper out onto the wooden table, pointing to a specific part on the map that was labeled 'bar'. The rest of the map was confusing, mainly being a jumble of floors and tunnels that were really unrecognizable. Erza raised an eyebrow and the jumble of lines and directions.

"Is this it?" she asked, her voice gaining the same hint of skepticality that Gray's had. Natsu snorted, his lip curling in disgust.

"Well, the map's 3-D," he explained, maybe a bit too harshly, "So perhaps if we all had PAs we could communicate using those."

Gray's expression darkened. "You know I can't have one of those on me! It always freezes!"

"Then wrap it up you idiot!" retorted Natsu.

"Boys!" yelled Erza, a dark aura surrounding her. Natsu and Gray reluctantly let go of each other's noses.

"Yeah..."

"Whatever."

"Natsu," Erza said, a hardness to her voice, "You aren't acting like yourself. You haven't been for about a week now." - she leaned toward him and he saw the steel edge in her grey eyes, a warning to tell the truth - "So I'd be glad to listen to whatever is making you uneasy. Something more is up that just Lucy being captured, isn't there?"

Natsu paused, his eyes veiled. He didn't say a word; he knew it was true.

"It's nothing," he insisted, "Besides, the main issue here is Lucy. We need to find her as soon as possible. She's most definitely in trouble."

"Okay," she relented, "But seriously, lighten up. Maybe we can talk about it after this is all over. Or, if you need to get it out of the way before you get serious..."

"No." Natsu looked away, perturbed, but unwilling to let Erza exploit the opportunity to ask him any more questions. He'd probably be unable to refuse answering them honestly. Gray raised a curious eyebrow, not sure what was going on. The other two rolled their eyes simultaneously at him.

"Okay fine," Erza snapped. She was tight-lipped and irritation clearly showed in her tense expression.

"Jeez," muttered Gray.

Natsu pouted grumpily.

Erza sighed heavily, before smacking them both on the back of their heads, smashing them both into the hard table. Their muffled screams filled the smaller makeshift gang hall, making the rest of the members turn to look in curiosity. They soon turned back, laughing to themselves. Just another day at Fairy Tail...

However, to Natsu and Gray, this was a brand new fight. They jumped up, ready to pummel each other and Erza at the same time. This did not bode well with Titania, as she promptly slammed them each back into the table. Muttering was heard above the dull whisperings and wisps of conversations floating around the gang hall.

"Come on, Erza," Natsu said, his complaint muffled by the fact that his face was being held to a wooden table. Gray said nothing.

"I will not have you boys fighting while we are on this mission. It's of an utter importance and we can not afford to waste our time dilly-dallying. Now let's figure out a plan of action, or I will begin kicking your asses until we do." The boys shivered. Erza meant business. She did release them, though.

"Well fine then, but-" Natsu was cut off by a large squeak coming from the other side of the hall. Mirajane Strauss, in all her white-haired beauty and pink dress, came running down toward them, holding a cell phone.

"Natsu! I need you to listen to this! Gray, go get the Master!" Her voice was urgent, and Natsu snatched the phone from her grasp and clutched it by his ear. His eyes widened, and he couldn't hear anything but what was being said into his ear. He didn't notice Gray's mumbling about being an errand boy, or Erza's retort, or even Mira's scream to get moving. None of it.

"Yes, yes. And this is Natsu? Judging from your stupid silence, it probably is."

That voice. It was his voice. It was that bastard, the one who'd kidnapped Lucy, Gajeel. That screwed up jerk.

"You screwed up son of a-" Erza cut him off, grabbing the cell phone and pressing it to her ear. Master Makarov came up and stood on the table beside them, to compensate for the height difference, but he was still panting from the run.

"Gajeel!" cried Erza, her pupils shrinking.

Makarov caught his breath and glared at the phone. "Is that really Gajeel from Phantom Lord?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"Sure is," growled Natsu, his voice low and menacing. He ignored the worried look from Mirajane and Gramps and rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Master Makarov," whispered Mira, glancing at him again. Natsu rolled his eyes inwardly this time. She probably thought that he couldn't hear them.

"Yeah?"

"D'you think that maybe Natsu-"

"NATSU! TAKE THE PHONE!" The urgent cry from Erza blocked out the next few words that came out of Mirajane's mouth. A flying projectile was flung at Natsu, and he caught it. It was the phone. He hastily put it by his ear.

"Is this Natsu again?" Gajeel's gruff voice seemed irritated...

"Yeah? The hell do you want from me? Just give back Lucy already!" he yelled into the phone. He wasn't paying attention to Gramp's and Mirajane's conversation anymore.

"Natsu, calm down. You need to negotiate," Erza said quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off, irritated.

"No way in hell. That would mean our hostage would be gone. But that isn't the point. The point is that we want somethin' from you."

"What do you want, then," Natsu growled through clenched teeth. He was tense with the need to rip something apart.

"We want all of Fairy Tail to be disbanded, of course. That troublesome fake gang has gone way too far. We don't want you to manipulate the city anymore. It's our turf now."

"WELL THAT'S A STUPID REASON TO TAKE LUCY, DAMMIT!" Natsu was now on fire. Mira ran to get the fire extinguisher. Makarov raised an eyebrow at his outburst.

"Just remember not to do anything stupid. Rescuing her is futile and stupid. Hint, hint. Now go and give the damn phone to your Master."

Natsu was holding the phone a little bit aways from his head (in order to not blow his own head off because of his dragon slayer hearing...), so Gramps was able to hear Gajeel speaking. He managed to grab the cell phone from him seconds before Mira reached them and turned the fire extinguisher on Natsu.

His "AAAAAAAggggghhhh!" was muffled as the white fluff spread over his head. It smelled very much like soap, and before he knew it he was sneezing.

"AAAAACHOOOO!"

"Oh!" cried Mirajane. She dodged the fire that streamed out of Natsu's mouth and nose.

"Yuck, Natsu! That's disgusting!" yelled Gray, crossing his arms. He was not wearing a shirt. Again.

"Shaddap!" Natsu retorted angrily, closing his mouth. Gray was forced to jump backwards as Natsu lunged at him. They both tumbled over the next table and knocked into a card table that had been set up by the basement wall. A cracking sound was heard as they hit the hard, cold surface.

"NATSU AND GRAY!" yelled a very furious Master Makarov. The boys froze in their threatening positions and turned to look at him.

"Where is Happy anyway?" Natsu could hear Mirajane ask worriedly. He bowed his head, his bangs covering his eyes.

"He left again," he muttered. And Happy honestly had left. It was very inconvenient of him

"But I miss Charla!" Happy cried, fake tears streaming down his blue face.

"Fine but I'm seriously going to burn you into the ground when I get back," he muttered back, itching to choke the small blue cat.

"Happy, I agree with you about staying. It will be dangerous for you to come with us," Erza mentioned, glancing over at Natsu, who wasn't saying anything but was glaring daggers at Happy.

"Yeah Natsu. It's not like it's Happy's fault."

But still...

Natsu remembered begrudgingly agreeing to Happy's proposal, though he had to admit his disappointment in his friend's actions. Why come and then chicken out all of a sudden? He sighed, unable to comprehend the stupidity.

He stood up, ripping Gray's hand off of his shirt. Breathing heavily, he stomped over to the wooden table that Makarov was standing on top of and slumped down on the bench beside it. He disregarded the furious look on Gramp's face, just because he didn't really care. He laid his head on the table and closed his eyes. He decided that resting a bit before they went to go rescue Lucy wasn't that bad of an idea. He dozed off.

* * *

"He's asleep now, right?" It was Mirajane's voice.

Natsu's ears perked up, though he still breathed in and out slowly to give the impression that he was still asleep.

"Yeah," murmured Erza quietly, almost like she could tell that he was awake.

"Want to tell them what I thought earlier, Master?" Mirajane inquired, her voice a little shaky, almost like she was really excited.

Natsu could hear Gramps sigh loudly. "Seriously? Can't you say it?"

He heard Mirajane 'hmph', before sighing loudly. Well someone had attitude today...

"Puberty. I think Natsu's finally hit puberty," she announced.

The room was silent.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Natsu cried, jumped right out of his head and on top of the table. He heaved in and out, obviously very distressed and kind of weirded out. His friend who were surrounding him were all wide-eyed and drooling. Mirajane was in a gasping position, with her hand in front of her mouth, which was probably in a wide 'o' shape by then.

"Uh-uh... hhh- uhhhh..." Natsu blubbered, his face heating up as blood began pumping in his ears. He stepped off of the table and sat down on the chair again, his eyes veiled this time. Erza cleared her throat.

"So this is why he's been acting moody and strange when Lucy is involved?" she asked seriously, pretending that Natsu was not present. A vein popped on his forehead.

"That's the theory," Mirajane agreed, her mood suddenly very light and happy. There went her inner fangirl... Natsu groaned, trying to signal that he was still there. Yet even though he was half-heartedly trying to make them stop talking, he was listening very hard to hear what they were saying.

"But w-what does it have to do with Lucy?" Gray asked, stuttering a bit.

"Well..." Mirajane trailed off. It was silent for a few seconds, before everyone in the room (who had apparently been listening to the embarrassing conversation... :/ Dun ask me. It's Fairy Tail...) said "Oooohhhhhhhhh!" at the same exact time.

The room was silent for some more. Then, Natsu got it.

"You traitors!" he yelled, fire spitting out of his mouth as he jumped up and started running to the safest place in the basement, the bathroom.

"Ha-ha! He's running back to his mommy, the toilet!" Gray cried mockingly. Natsu stopped dead in his tracks and turned around slowly.

"What the hell did you just say?"

"Oh, cut it out already!" Erza yelled, slamming an iron-covered fist into the wood table, "I thought you wanted to rescue Lucy, but apparently I was wrong."

"Nah," Gray mumbled, "Oh he wants Lucy alright..."

And now let us close a large curtain of pity on this frightful scene.

* * *

THANKS FOR READINGGG! :D Next chapter will definitely be up this next Monday. I will not let that happen again. :3


	10. Dungeons and Dragons

A/N: Confession: I enjoy writing Natsu as a hormonal irritated teenager with attitude stuffed up his ass. Go ahead. Sue me. And can I get a round of applause for my wonderful beta **adryanna's echo**? She happens to be amazing.

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Dungeons and Dragons**

* * *

PART TWO

* * *

Natsu stepped carefully down the metal staircase, breathing in the musty smell of mildew and mold. He stifled a sneeze, not wanting to make any more noise than was necessary. As he descended further into the putrid air and darkness, he made sure to give Erza, who was positioned at the top of the steps, a swift nod. He paused and she repeated his signal, turning to go through the same process with Gray, who was standing guard at the door to the bar. Once Erza had received a nod back, she turned to Natsu once again and gave him the thumbs up.

The planto rescue Lucy and kick assbegan with a silent intrusion into the basement of Phantom Lord. That was phase one. Phase two required Natsu to stay in front, as he was required to actually _see _in the tunnel. Dragon Slayer enhanced senses were always very helpful.

Other than the amused smirks and mocking that were constantly coming from Gray, Natsu was fully focused. He was very confused about all of this, Lucy getting kidnapped, people who didn't know anything about him claiming he was going through puberty. And HEY, he was seventeen! He'd already gone through that crap already! According to a ripped and partially burned book that Mirajane had reportedly read, Dragons go through puberty twice. Therefore, Dragon Slayers should logically do the same. The only problem was that nobody would answer him when he asked what else was in the book.

"Natsu!" Erza's hissed whisper caught his attention, bringing him back into reality. He was thinking too much into this. He needed to execute Phase two of the plan, keeping the qualifications for Phase three in mind while he did so. This required very hard concentration, which he was lacking at the moment. He cleared his throat quietly.

"Initiating - whatever that means... - Phase two. Uh... Can I seriously not use a flashlight?" he whispered to Erza, who was still planted at the top of the steps. She nodded coldly, her face unimpressed.

"Good that it's _finally _started..." she muttered, "And no, you can't use a flashlight."

Natsu rolled his eyes. Sneaking in there was like cowering behind a powerful opponent. In other words, definitely not his style. He'd wanted to barrel in there, flames up and all, beat the crap out of a few people and grab Lucy and swing outa' there. It sounded an awful lot like a prince saving a princess, but he was totally not thinking that at _all_.

"Hurry up you oaf!" Erza whisper-yelled, her eyebrow twitching. Natsu sighed loudly, full of attitude, and peered into the darkness beyond the last step of visible stairs. He cursed as he subconsciously stepped down on level floor, thinking before that he would step down onto another lower step.

"What is it?" Erza whispered, a little louder than necessary. Natsu snorted, but he could hear her sigh of relief. She muttered something, presumably to Gray.

Meanwhile, Natsu stepped forward carefully, not even able to see a goddamn thing. He cursed violently under his breath and shuffled on. He wanted so badly to just use his fire and be able to see what the hell was an inch away from his own face. The darkness was very eerie, and it seemed to be almost... thick? Like smoke? It was strange...

His foot hit something and he jumped.

"Why can't we just let them know we're here?" He asked after he confirmed that it was just a box, "I can go kick ass and then we find Lucy and get the hell out."

"You know that's impossible. We don't know exactly where she is and they can just use her as a hostage. We've already talked about this, Natsu!"

"Fine, fine..." he growled, relenting. He stepped forward and again his foot hit something hard. He leaned down this time and sniffed. Oh. Definitely a barrell. He shuffled forward. Oh, god this was agonizing.

Finally, finally, _finally _his foot hit a wall. He almost fell over, stumbling, but he managed to catch himself on the hard surface of the wall.

"Natsu, are you okay?" He could barely hear Erza's voice now. He put his hand in his pocket and typed 'yes' into the keypad on his phone. He pressed enter, and heard Erza's phone receive the text.

"Tch," she cursed, "Don't text me unless it's urgent, Natsu."

"Yeah whatever."

Natsu felt around the wall, trying to find a door-handle. He groped around for another minute, shifting across the ten foot wall, before switching walls. This was going to take a while.

It was over a minute later, after several check-up whispers from Erza, when Natsu found the door-handle. He gripped the cold metal, which was almost colder than the thick blackness that surrounded him like a shroud of mist.

"Found the door," he whispered, ever so slightly. He heard Erza's soft intake of breath, then he slowly opened the door. This led to Phase Three, which entailed Natsu going first into whatever lay beyond, Erza following him, and Gray following Erza.

"You're just a weenie who needs to be in the back," Natsu had muttered, accusing Gray of practically being a pussy. The ice mage's response was glacial.

Back in real time, Natsu was getting extremely cold, feeling his way down a dark and dank hallway. How the hell did they see anything in here? How could they move and do their gang stuff when nobody could find where they were meeting? He couldn't figure this out, but he didn't dwell on it long. He was too busy trying not to fall over.

"Natsu?" Erza whispered/called. She seemed to be around ten feet behind him at the time.

"What is it _this time_?" he muttered back, irritation emanating from his voice. Erza sighed audibly, something that was unnecessary and seemingly inconvenient to him.

"Have your eyes adjusted to this light level?" she asked, her business voice on.

"No," Natsu said, troubled. It was like he couldn't see through the air at all. And it was just getting thicker the farther he went.

"I'll have Gray follow five feet behind me and I'll follow five feet behind you," she informed, her voice low. Natsu grunted.

He shuffled forward, starting to get VERY tired of not being able to see anything. As frustrating as it was, the only reason he was doing this was so that Lucy would be safe. If she became a hostage it was all over. No plan b.

"Oi, Erza..." he mumbled. He heard her utter a questioning grunt in response.

"It's a dead end."

"Whaaaaaaat?!" she screamed, reserving absolutely nothing. It was extremely loud, threatening to break Natsu's freaking eardrums. He felt his shoulders smash into the underside of his head as his body went on autopilot to avoid further ear damage. His ears were already impossibly sensitive, but with the added difficulty in hearing hushed whispers across weird mist stuff he was always listening very closely. And it cost him this time.

"Oooowwwwww!" He cried, slapping his palms against his ears, "Cut the hell out! My freaking ears just broke godammit!"

"Damn! What's wrong?!" Gray's deep voice rang out into the hallway, just making it worse than it already was.

"Would you all just shut up already?"

Every single Fairy Tail member in that hallway froze. A... male voice had just silenced them. They didn't recognize it at all.

His tone was low, but he wasn't that old at all, around Erza's age perhaps, maybe a little irritated, _but that was understandable. _Natsu couldn't see a damn thing to identify him, but he could definitely feel a human presence directly to his left. He sniffed carefully, his hands slowly coming down from his (freakin bleeding) ears.

The man's smell was clean, and he smelled like a handsome guy. (I dunno. Just figured Natsu could smell crap like that.) The detergent for his clothes was something that Natsu couldn't recognize, but he knew it smelled kind of soapy. Gross. He could almost feel the smirk of his near adversary.

Natsu nearly jumped up into the ceiling when he heard soft chuckling coming from his left. His head shot in that direction, his eyes wide and his teeth bared.

"No need to be hostile, Natsu Dragneel." The man stopped chuckling, and instead Natsu could hear the telltale sounds of someone's chin being rubbed. Natsu snorted, before the shock registered. That man knew his name. His full name.

"Who the hell are you?" he hissed, gritting his teeth even more after the sentence. He heard a huff, before a sigh.

"Nobody in particular. I just want to know what you want, that is all," he said confidently. Natsu raised an eyebrow.

"We're here for Lucy."

"Tsk, tsk," chided the man, "Bad business tactic, Dragneel. You may be a Dragon Slayer, but you are definitely lacking in the... eh... _intelligence _area."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"And you think I'm gonna believe that shit?"

"I didn't really expect you to... to be honest."

"Never mind that. I'm going to beat you up unless you tell me where Lucy is!" Natsu yelled, in the general direction of the voice.

"Shush you idiot!" was the hissed reply of the mysterious man. Natsu's eyes widened. "I don't know where she is, I thought that was obvious."

"Well it wasn't. So are you gonna tell me, or not?" Natsu's voice was low and kind of dark. He was attempting to sound threatening, and doing a damn good job of it.

But... the man just laughed.

"Oh," the man breathed, his chest probably heaving from his laughing fit, "That one's good. Here. I'll let you go find your Lucy, if you leave the redhead behind with me."

"Why do you want Erza?"

"We have some talking to do. Now do you want to find Lucy in one piece, or in several?"

"I'll kill you," Natsu warned.

"Kill me? You can't even _see _me."

"Natsu!" Erza yelled, "I'll be fine! You and Gray go on ahead!" Her voice was reassuring, but something was very suspicious about it.

"Fine," he relented, after thinking about it for a moment. Erza was strong. She could definitely handle this guy.

"Well then, you and the black-haired boy named Gray will pass through this door," suddenly air was whooshing past Natsu's face, and the smoke cleared around a handle to a door, which hadn't been there the first time he looked, "and I will be left with the lady Erza." The way he said her name... Natsu didn't like it.

"Be careful, Erza," he muttered, before opening the door. He stepped into the darkness, with Gray following him.

Before he shut the door, he was able to hear the beginnings of a conversation between the strange man and Erza.

"It's been awhile, Erza."

"Silence and get to the point, _Jellal. _What do you want?"

Jellal? When had he heard that name before...?

Natsu shook his head. The next room that they had just entered was dark and cold, but it wasn't smoky or misty at all. A dull chill had set all over like they were in a vegetable storehouse, or a giant refrigerator.

"Why did you leave Erza?" Gray's question startled Natsu, who was used to the silence of the new room. He took a step forward, avoiding the question, and was surprised to hear his footstep echo across the room.

"Natsu," Gray warned, "Tell me why you left Erza." Gosh, he was serious.

"She can handle herself, Gray. It's not my place to stop a fight, if that was even what is happening," he said, excusing himself. They didn't have time for this.

Gray 'hmphed' but didn't protest his decision further. They inched ahead, careful to keep their hands in front of them. It was thirty seconds into it that Natsu realized he was beginning to be able to see.

"Gray," he said, his voice showing his excitement, "I can see!"

"Well ain't that nice Dragon Boy. I'm still blind here."

"Huh? You can't see anything?"

"Uh huh."

"That's... weird," Natsu admitted, scratching the back of his head. He couldn't really smell anything other than boxes, so he assumed that this was some sort of storeroom. The fact that Gray couldn't see anything meant that it was pitch black, unseeable for regular humans.

"Hey, Gray?" Natsu asked, curious.

"Yeah? What is it?" Gray said.

"Just wondering.. do you... hear anything?"

"No. It's silent."

"Hmmm," Natsu mumbled. Maybe he was just hearing things... or maybe he wasn't.

"Do you hear something I should know about?" Gray asked. Natsu frowned, and said he didn't.

'Well then, let's get moving instead of just standing here!"

"Fine!"

Gray grumbled something before sticking his hands out in front of him. Natsu did the same, and stepped forward all of a sudden. His palms hit a cold surface.

"Ah!"

"What is it?!" Gray yelled.

Natsu let out a breath. "I found the wall."

"Then open it, dumbass."

"I'm not a dumbass. And I can't open a wall, Pervert."

"I'M not a pervert! Find a door then, stupid."

"I'M NOT STUPID!"

"SHUT UP! WE'RE _SUPPOSED_ TO BE QUIET!"

"Well you two seem to be having fun revealing your presence."

* * *

THANKS FOR READINGGGG


	11. Involving Dragons and Angry Water Ladies

A/N: Uhhhmmmm... Just to make this clear, Igneel isn't a dragon in this story. He's like, Natsu's actual dad. Weeiiird. I dunno why I made it that way I just did. Also, this chapter has a special additive: we get to see Erza vs. Jellal and Gray vs. Juvia. Sorry for the spoilers. Oh, and please keep in mind that this is an AU. I changed the personalities a tinsey bit. Okay you'll see I changed them a lot. :3

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Involving Dragons and Angry Water Ladies**

* * *

**PART TWO**

* * *

"Who the hell is th-"

Gray clamped a hand over Natsu's mouth, preventing him from saying anything more. The pink-haired teen struggled, but calmed down when Gray whispered something in his ear.

"Shut up. We can avoid a conflict if we're quiet..."

"Oh, it'dbe a real shame if Juvia couldn't fight you boys," the female voice, strangely monotonous, said. Gray raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, well alright then. Turn the damn light on, would you? If we're found out, we might as well discuss-"

Instantly the room was flooded with bright lights. Gray, in his shock, released Natsu and stumbled back. The room was _huge. _At least the size of two Grand Central Stations (That thing is HEEYUGE BY THE WAY) and filled a quarter on either side with rows and rows of boxes. A large space was in the middle, and in the center of that, a girl stood. She was blue haired, dressed in a Russion outfit while holding an umbrella. Her eyes looked dead.

"Drip, drip, drop," she deadpanned.

"Uhhhh," mumbled Natsu, dumbfounded. The room was so large. How the hell did it fit under just one bar? Unless... Oh, god.

Gray was unflustered. He had a glare set on the girl.

"You," he growled, "What's your name and where is Lucy?"

"My name is Juvia. Juvia is the Rain Woman, one of our elite. Drip, drip, drop."

"Okay, you can cut out the 'Drip, drip, drip' shit, okay?"

"Um, it's 'drip, drip, _drop_'..."

"I don't care what it is!"

The blue rain lady glided forward, and Natsu nearly did a double take when he saw that her legs had literally turned into water. She slid across the floor and right up to Gray. He stood there, unmoving, even when she was less than four feet away from him. Natsu was still frozen, his hands up against the wall.

"You..." Her eyes widened, and a hint of a red blush spread across her face. Her dull eyes suddenly had sparkles in them. Natsu thought it was revolting. Gray, however, was oblivious.

"W-what is y-y-your name?" Juvia stuttered, holding her hands together and completely forgetting her umbrella.

"The name is Gray. And you're going to try and stop us from getting to Lucy, aren't you?"

"Well of course," Juvia returned to deadpanning, "That's Juvia's job. There's only one more chamber to go. We couldn't excavate the _entire _city underground of course. But even if you fought Juvia and your friend went on, it wouldn't make a difference."

"And _why_ is that?" Gray asked, the growl back in his voice.

"He'll definitely be defeated. There are more much, much stronger than Juvia."

"So are you stronger than that guy back in the other room?"

Juvia figuratively froze. "Wait, there's someone else in the other room?..."

"Yeah," Gray scoffed, "You didn't know that? I thought he was one of you..."

"No," Juvia stated, "We never had anyone out there that Juvia knows of." She spoke with such certainty that Gray was taken aback. "Now if you will excuse us, er.. Natsu-sama, Juvia and Gray-sama have some fighting to do."

"Ahhhh okay?"

"Yes, please leave," she said, sending him off with a wave of her hand. Natsu raised his eyebrows and wiggled them up and down at Gray.

"You being suggestive? You're the one who's going through puberty."

"_DRAGON_ PUBERTY YOU JACKASS!"

Natsu slammed the door on his way out. The next room was full of light, like some sort of interrogation block. He squinted, putting his arm in front of his eyes and trying to see.

"Well hello there, young Dragon Slayer."

That voice. It echoed across the room like thunder, bouncing against the far wall and coming back again. The words reached his ear drums again and again, jarring his thoughts and reverberating in the air around him. It was like was in a racketball court.

"You," he growled, his hands covering his ears, "Who the hell are you?!"

"Not a person of consequence," the deep masculine voice insisted. Natsu couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from, but he could somehow sense that it was somewhere above him.

"Where's Lucy?!"

"Oh you'll get your precious Lucy back, once you show me what I need to see," the voice boomed, chuckling slightly.

"And what is that?!"

"So eager, aren't we..."

"TELL ME, DAMMIT!"

"Slow down. I'd think you would at least have a resisting conversation instead of blindly asking what I wanted to know or see. You could at least _sound _like you were reluctant."

"W-well I-"

"Where is Igneel?"

"What?!"

"You heard me. Where's your father, Igneel?"

"I don't know!"

The voice paused. As Natsu squinted into the bright lights above him, illuminating the large rectangular room. At the far end a man was visible. His dark figure was obscured by the fact that he was wearing a cloak.

"You!" Natsu cried, fire igniting around him. And the man just smiled.

"You're the one that took him you jackass!"

"No," the man replied, his voice darkening, "He left. He left you, and everything he was involved in. It was because of you."

"NO! HE WOULDN'T LEAVE ME AND MY MOM TO DIE LIKE THAT!"

"Oh, but he would!"

Natsu's face scrunched up as he struggled with this new information. He wouldn't allow himself to believe that the man was telling the truth, but he couldn't see how he was lying. He didn't have any proof that _wasn't _what his father did. And he would keep telling himself that until the day he returned.

"You don't have any proof," he growled, his eyes veiled.

"I don't need any. All the proof I need is in you, in your memories. I'll give you that pitiful blonde girl back, but you'll have to make a deal first. And I can guarantee it will be easy," said the figure.

Natsu grit his teeth. "_Fine_."

"Well then, let's begin."

* * *

_One hour later..._

* * *

"_Lucy!"_

"Lucy!"

"LUCY!"

Tension seemed to evaporate as one of her deep brown eyes opened. Natsu was kneeling beside her, his face all scrunched up.

"Natsu," she murmured. Her right eye felt like it was crusted shut. Maybe from blood. It was dark and cold, but he could see that she was hurting.

"Here," he mumbled, softly bringing his arms around her shoulders and pulling her up. She gasped in pain and he froze, not wanting to hurt her more. "You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she managed to say, though weakly.

"Does it hurt anywhere?" His voice was insistent. She caved.

"My back," he heard her whimper softly. He clenched his teeth, lifting her carefully off of the cold ground. She was so weak, even though it had only been... oh god. It'd been many long hours since she'd disappeared. And Natsu had stalled. He'd managed to get into petty arguments about useless things with everyone while Lucy had been here, _alone._

He rose, lifting her higher and holding her in his arms. Everything was going to be okay. It _had _to be.

* * *

"So then, Erza. It's been awhile." His smooth tone and deep voice were filling up the darkness. The black mist had subsided for the moment, so she could see the red tattoo that was slightly obscured by his blue hair.

"It has," she agreed tensely. She was trying to keep herself from attacking him. This required her to clench her fists, digging her nails into her hands and biting the inside of her cheek. She took a step forward jerkily, but stepped back again, composing herself. Pangs of yearning to step closer to him were wracking through her, but she couldn't afford to let them get to her.

"Erza," he muttered her name like an incantation almost. She managed to raise a controlled eyebrow.

"What is it? Is there really anything we need to discuss?" she asked.

"No... I just wanted to know if you wanted to get something to eat," he smirked, wiggling his eyebrows. She quickly wiped the stupid grin that had just appeared on her face and nodded.

"I was feeling hungry anyway..."

(Dies from Jerza fluffiness... Yeah I know it's short but more shall come, my lovelies.)

* * *

"So you," Gray panted, "Your name is... Juvia? You're good..."

"Yes," Juvia blushed, hiding behind her umbrella for a moment and cooling down. "However, your womanizing wiles will not hinder me!"

As she finished her declaration, she raised her free arm and slashed downward, sending a wave of water toward Gray. Gray crossed his arms and shouted, "Ice Make: Shield!" just before the water hit. Cold steam spurted out from between the two, water and ice.

"I cannot allow you to continue," Juvia deadpanned.

"What do you mean?" yelled Gray, "What's the point anyway?! Why are we fighting?! All we want is Lucy!"

He ran toward her, but just as he did so a gigantic wall of water came rushing toward him. It was hot, but he put both of his hands in front of him and concentrated his magic energy. Slowly, the scalding water began to cool. Then it froze. He had been walking forward the entire time steadily, with one arm extended. All of the ice broke at the same moment.

His, uh, hand, was, uh, touching, uh, something, uh, very... uh, soft. Juvia's eyes widened as she realized just what exactly he was squishing. He immediately fell backward in an effort to escape her oncoming wrath and a slight blush appeared on his face. He'd say it was because any man would have that sort of embarrassed reaction when, accidentally or not, touching a woman's boob but all the Gruvia fans know better.

Juvia froze figuratively. Gray had just exercised a common habit of his, taking off his shirt whenever he was distressed. A red hue spread across her face like wildfire and she began fanning herself with vigour.

"Y-y-y-your advances will not affect me at all! I'm still your opponent!" she cried. He rolled his eyes and stretched his arms up.

"Yeah whatever," he muttered, still quite disturbed.

"BUT JUVIA IS STRONG! JUVIA WILL OVERCOME THESE URGES TO DO SEXUAL THINGS WITH THIS GRAY SA-"

"WHAT THE _HELL _DID YOU JUST SAY?! AND WHY ARE YOU TALKING IN THIRD PERSON AGAIN?!"

"DON'T FUCKING ASK ME THAT!"

"Okay!" Gray put his hands up, trying to be the man and keep the peace, "Just calm down a second. I didn't mean any harm, and I didn't mean to offend you or anything." Juvia was still fuming.

"OH WELL NICE JOB OF THAT! JUVIA WAS HAVING A GOOD DAY UNTIL YOU SHOWED UP!" she yelped, steam literally coming out of her ears.

"Calm down!"

"NO!"

"Yo, jackass! I've got Lucy! Let's get the hell out of here!" Natsu's voice rang out, stopping both of the mages in their tracks. Juvia visibly relaxed.

"Well I guess it's time you got going!" she deadpanned, as her hand that was holding the umbrella was shaking.

"Yeah and we gotta get the hell out of here," grumbled Natsu to Gray, motioning for him to follow.

"You got her that fast?!" cried Gray, dumbfounded.

"You _doubted _me?! And it's been two fuckin hours!" Natsu grinned. But quickly his smile disappeared when he remembered the difficulty of their situation. "Come on," he said, "She's _hurt_."

Gray's eyes widened. "Uh, yeah. Juvia?" But she was gone. "Oh."

"Let's get the hell out of here," muttered Natsu urgently.

"Y-yeah."

Natsu swore he'd never let Gray off of this one when they returned to the guild.

"Hey, where's Erza?..."

* * *

THANKS FOR READINGGGGG!

Next chapter is the last one for part 2. After that we have the 2 week break and so on. :D


	12. Beaches and Sake

A/N: Last chapter of Part 2! Thanks for all the support guys! :D Also, I've always wondered exactly how Natsu ate fire. :3 Also, important announcement at the end of the chapter. Remember to read it, please!

This chapter is un-beta-ed. The beta-ed version will be out soon. :P

* * *

**Chapter Twelve: Beaches and Sake**

* * *

**PART TWO**

* * *

"Natsu! Stop splashing me!"

It was sunny. The waves of the ocean splashed against Natsu's kneecaps and chilled the rest of him. He hated the cold, but he wasn't here for himself. But hey, he was having fun despite the fact that his ass was freezing. He was out there in practically paradise, alone at the moment with Lucy. He was enjoying splashing her.

"Neverrr!" he yelled, a wide grin spreading across his face. He decided to ignore the cold for the moment.

"Eeeek!" she squealed as more water got splashed at her. She started backing up, trying to avoid the water. She was in her white bikini that showed off her figure. Water was dripping off of her and back into the water. She was currently wiping it out of her eyes. "If you're going to splash me then please at least avoid my face," she complained. Natsu laughed out loud.

"Sorry about that Luce, but I have no ability to aim at all. Even when I use magic, it gets everywhere..." he looked down a moment, still grinning. It was strange. He was so much happier when she was around, and he still wasn't sure about everything.

"Wha-!" Salt water splashed into his face. He gasped, unwisely inhaling some of it.

"ABGHASFNBADPLFFF." (Spluttering.)

He sunk to his knees. Now the freezing water was up to his waist, and he could feel the soft sand scraping against his skin. He coughed, wiping his eyes and mouth of the salty water.

"The hell was that?" he croaked, his throat raw. He winced at the hoarse sound of his voice.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, wading her way through the waves to him. The sharp cawing of the seagulls pierced his ears. He opened his eyes a tiny bit, catching the sunlight shining on the water. He turned his face and saw Lucy's worried look.

"I'm fine," he insisted, raising himself off of his knees and back on his feet, "Let's go back inside."

A trip to the beach. That was the price. Natsu remembered that for every time he worried about Lucy being captured and gone, this replaced the lost time.

"So Natsu," Lucy started as they were walking back to the cabins, wrapped in beach towels, "Why didn't you talk to me the week before?"

"It was kinda awkward at the time, Luce."

"Oh. You mean the..."

"Yeah."

"But-" she stopped herself. Natsu turned back to look at her.

"What?" he asked, wanting to know what she was saying.

"It's nothing," she sighed. Natsu frowned.

"It's gonna get cold soon, and we won't have any fun if we're freezing," he reminded her, nodding toward the cabins.

"Uh huh..."

* * *

Later that day, at dinner, the sun was almost done setting. The group of Erza, Gray, Natsu, and Lucy were gathered around a round fire pit. Natsu could feel the gritty sand between his toes, but he ignored it because the warmth of the fire was smoking out most everything else. He was holding back the urge to eat all of the fire in the pit... but it was impossible to anymore. Nobody was roasting _anything. _They were just sitting there while he starved to death.

"Natsu, what are you _doing_?!"

His mouth was full of fire, so he sucked it down quickly before looking toward the sound of Erza's angered voice. The fire in the pit was completely gone.

"Uhhhh..."

"Now we have nothing to cook our food with! What were you thinking?!"

"Well, uh, Erza. I'm kind of a fire mage, so all we gotta do is-" he was cut off by the sudden yank of his collar. Erza was breathing down his neck and she was furious. Shit.

"_This is supposed to be a trip without magic, dimwit_," she hissed. Natsu shuddered, nodding. Erza released him. "Good then. Now go and find some more dry sticks so we can actually make another fire!"

Natsu stumbled over out into the darkness. He could see, mostly, enough to grab onto a few measly sticks that were scattered over the ground. They were driftwood of course. They hadn't found a way to chop down the trees toward the center of the island.

Erza had found the 'perfect' option for a training camp. All they had to do was survive on an abandoned island without magic for a week. Today was the first day, but Natsu felt so pent up with all that unused magic energy he couldn't stand it. People wondered why he was so hungry all the time and, more importantly, why he destroyed everything when he was in a fight. Well, it was simply because his flames were extremely hard to control. He had to get them out _somehow, _and he didn't even mean to always. He returned with the kindling.

"Ah, good. You've found a use for yourself," Erza said, smirking sarcastically. Natsu could tell she was holding a sake bottle. The thought was troubling.

"Now everyone work to make this fire possible!" she ordered, sprawling herself out over the sand, but with her elbows propping her up. Gray, Natsu, and Lucy began frantically trying to start a fire. None of them dared to speak. Lucy held the magnesium flint while Gray struck it and Natsu held the kindling and leaves next to it. Sparks flew across the mineral, and soon the leaves had caught on fire, spreading quickly to the sticks. Before long, they had a small fire going.

"Ahhhh, that's better," the redhead declared, grinning widely at all of them. They eyed her cautiously. Her sake bottle was larger than they had initially seen.

"Um, Erza, could I ask you something?" Gray said carefully.

"What is it?!" she demanded, swigging more alcohol.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to be drinking all that?"

"Yes! Of _course _it is!"

The trio blinked. That was not the correct answer, apparently. They squinted their eyes at her doubtfully. "She is so drunk," muttered Gray. Natsu and Lucy nodded in a silent agreement.

"Hey where's Happy?" drawled the redhead, trying to take another swig, and frowning into the bottle when she realized it was empty.

"He has a crush on this lady cat," Natsu explained, scratching his head. It was true. Last week Happy had up and decided to spend more time with this apparently gorgeous cat and had rejected the training vacation idea. Natsu was grateful that the little girl who ran the shop was so forgiven. She always seemed to be happy to see Happy, though he had no clue how anyone could be when the little blue idiot was slobbering all over her cat all the time.

"Yes? And? Did he honestly think that he could get away with this training camp by doing so?" she asked.

"Yeah. He kinda got away with it, too," Gray pointed out.

"I DIDN'T ASK YOU! GO GET ME MORE SAKE!"

"Well, Erza. He got away with it," Natsu repeated Gray, just to see if she would notice. She didn't.

"Huh! Dumb cat! He tries to get away with everything! I will have a discussion with him when we return!" she yelled. Gray returned with the sake. Natsu shot him a look. Why on _earth _would he actually give her more?! She probably can't tell the difference between it and water now, so he should have at least TRIED to help her!

"Ahhhh, thank you," Titania sighed, stretching her legs out farther. Natsu, Lucy, and Gray had all sat down around the growing fire, warming themselves. Well, at least Natsu thought Lucy was. Gray _never _got cold and Natsu was always warm, but Lucy... She needed to be warmed sometimes. He started to daydream, even though the sun was setting. His thoughts were mainly of how Lucy needed to be warmed a lot. He wondered if that happened when she was sleeping and a horrid image appeared in his head of her freezing to death under her thin sheets. He would figure out later if this was true.

* * *

"Natsu?! Wake up!" Natsu opened his eyes. Ah. He'd been so tired that he'd fallen asleep by the campfire. Well that was embarrassing. He wondered if Erza would have mercy. Probably not.

It was still dark, if not darker than when he'd first fallen asleep. He was sitting up, so he figured he hadn't been asleep long. The fire was slowly going out, but instead of her usual position Lucy was kneeling in front of him. Erza was conked out completely, laying flat on the ground. Gray was right next to her, doing the exact same thing. He also had a bottle of sake in his hand. Natsu could only guess what had happened but it seemed like the Ice Magic user had decided to screw it and drink as well.

His thoughts trailed off and he wondered if he should be at school tomorrow. He hadn't been worrying about it recently, but he hadn't needed to. Searching for Igneel had consumed him. However, that wasn't an issue for him anymore. He still needed to find his father of course, but he had bigger things to deal with. He felt someone shaking his shoulders, and looked down to see Lucy. Oh. He'd been dozing again.

She put a finger up to her pink lips and gestured with her other hand toward the sleeping drunks. "We need to be quiet."

Natsu was tired, but he managed to nod. His thoughts were jumbled, like he was still asleep. Lucy giggled, then hiccuped. Damn she was cute. "What did you wake me for?"

"I'm cold."

"Huh?"

"I'm freeeeezing."

"Ah, okay." He threw an arm around her shoulders and pulled her onto him. However, this plan backfired, literally, as he was also thrown backwards. Soon she was snuggling the crook of his neck on top of him. He could feel the gritty sand on his back but at the moment it didn't matter. Lucy was squished up against him, her soft skin rubbing on his chest like a _really _soft blanket. He was asleep again in moments.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

A scream. A crash. More screaming.

Natsu felt something shift on top of him. Warmth was being peeled off of him. Unwilling to let it go, he groaned and flipped over so he was laying on top of whatever it was. Another scream - no, this time it was a squeal. A cute one.

"GET OFF HER YOU ASSHOLE!" Now that was _way _too loud. Natsu opened his eyes to see... sand. He turned his head and got a view of Lucy's face. It was bright red. She was being pressed against the sand, pinned by half of his body.

"Mmmmm, g'mornin," he slurred, smiling sleepily. Why the _hell _was he acting like this? What was this sorcery?!

"GRAY I AM GOING TO KILL YOU AND EAT YOU FOR BREAKFAST!"

"BUT JUVIAAAA!"

_What the hell?_

Natsu sat up, after smirking at Lucy's shocked expression, and wished he was still asleep. Gray and Erza were fighting on the ground over an empty sake bottle. They looked ridiculous; Gray had his legs over Erza's thighs in an apparent wrestling move, but Erza's nailed were poised above his face dangerously. She was glaring at him, like the only thing keeping her from living was his face. And Gray was obviously hallucinating as well.

Lucy sighed, sticking her tongue out experimentally. Natsu finally noted that the sun was barely rising in the distance. Orange light seeped through the trees on the other side of the island, making little bright spots everywhere. It was beautiful, in his mind.

"Look at that, Luce," he muttered, blinking and being drowsy, "I found it."

"What?" Lucy asked sleepily, still being amazing at the beautiful cascade of light that was peering through the dark green trees.

"I've found something that is just as pretty as you are."

Lucy instantly sobered. "What?"

"Suuure is preeettty," he slurred.

"Are you sure you didn't drink anything last night?!"

"Not really. But the last time I _definitely _drank something you kisshed me."

"..."

"Don't deny it! I remember it very well!" Natsu declared, throwing his fist up in the air and waving it around as it lit on fire.

But Lucy couldn't respond. She couldn't even say a damn word.

* * *

THANKS FOR READINGGGGG!

Thank you for reading up 'till now! On September 1st PART 3 will begin coming out again weekly!

ANNOUNCEMENT: I will be going on a temporary hiatus for all of my stories except this one soon. It won't be long, probably until at least the end of October or somewhere around November. :3


	13. Her Mission

A/N: Part 3 starting today! Nothing's changed about the schedules. There will always be an update every Monday, except when we go on those terrible 2 week breaks between parts so I can write and do shtuff in peace. :3 Thanks for all the support and your understanding guys!

Also, if there's anyone who would like to help me out and beta the rest of the chapters for this story, that would be awesome. :3 PM me, please.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: Her Mission**

* * *

__**PART 3**

* * *

_Lucy_

* * *

There she was, poor, poor, princess Lucy. The same princess Lucy that had been captured by the enemy and yet again been saved by her 'prince'. Except the guy was _nothing _like a fairy tale prince. He was a dragon. A big, crazy, fire-spewing dragon. He had dark, black eyes that were like deep pools of nothingness and weird spiky pink hair that she felt the weird and uncertain need to run her hands through. She thought she liked him. Maybe. Just a little bit.

Their spring break drunken beach party was over now and it was back to real life again. The reality of the upcoming exams frightened Lucy. She honestly thought that since she missed a weekend of studying she would fail. Of course, she _had _been a bit off since she'd been kidnapped, but it had faded away quickly, thank God. But she was still nervous about the finals.

"Yo! Wanna head somewhere after class?" It was Sting, a new member of their class. Lucy rolled her eyes at him. "No thanks."

"Huh," mumbled Sting, obviously disappointed. Lucy sighed. "I have a previous engagement, I'm sorry."

"Oh."

"LUCE I'M READY!" Natsu's screams could be heard throughout the entire school, she thought. He was nuts.

"Uuugh," she groaned, her head in her hands. Natsu rushed into her classroom, eyes bright and smile wide.

"I'M HERE!"

"Chill out, Natsu," she mumbled, sighing heavily. He deflated considerably.

"What's up with _that_?" he complained, pouting.

"Are you two dating?" Sting asked, annoyed.

"N-no!" Lucy exclaimed, a bright red blush spreading across her face. "It's not like that!"

Natsu was frozen. Lucy glanced at him, noticing his panicked expression. Great. She glared at Sting.

"Me and _him_? Why would you even suggest that?!" she yelled. Sting shrugged. "You guys seemed close, that's all."

"Huh..."

"Lucy," Natsu whined, "Let's get the hell out of here already!"

"_Fine._"

They walked side by side, their arms hanging by their sides. The busy street was full of activity, if you define that with the word _criminal _in front of it. Lucy never understood how the police force could be so ignorant, but then again, she dare not say it in front of Natsu. He was adamant that someday that town would be a place you could raise a respectful family. A city that the school didn't have to have gates and a wall. Well, she was doubtful that would ever happen but there was certainly no way in heck she was going to get in an argument about it. He'd never stop talking.

Recently he'd been more open, more talkative and the like. He was acting so different from when he'd first rescued her. The difference was significant. Significant enough to puzzle her. And as if his change in attitude wasn't strange enough, he'd become strangely nicer to her.

"Where were we going anyway?" she asked him, clasping her hands behind her back and leaning forward, her face looking up at him as they walked.

"I was thinking we could just... walk, you know," he answered, shrugging. He put his hands in his pockets.

"Oh."

They passed by an empty alley, dark and kind of dank. It was just another normal happening in Magnolia. Lucy sighed. Something had been weighing heavily on her mind for a while now...

"Natsu?"

"Yeah? What is it?"

"You're... immune to fire... right?"

"Well _duh_."

"Then why were you burned when you saved me?"

Natsu stopped in his tracks. She turned to look at him, but was shocked to see that he was grinning.

"Oh, that was nothing. I was just surprised, that's all!" he insisted, still smiling. But there was something off about his happy attitude.

"Are you okay?" she asked, confused.

"Yeah, yeah, of course." He caught up to her and patted her head. "I'm fine."

"Ah. Okay."

"How about we go play at that park over there..." Natsu muttered, pointing toward a familiar setting. Lucy gasped. It was the same park that he'd brought her to when she first arrived in Magnolia.

"Yeah," she whispered, "I like that idea."

* * *

She sighed, collapsing on her bed. Her soft comforter was, well, comfortable. She looked across her plain room to see her roommate's bed. Levy McGarden hadn't been seen in school for awhile. Lucy was very worried about her, but didn't know how to go about trying to find her... Maybe she'd ask someone in Fairy Tail. She hadn't been there since she was rescued. She oughta go...

"Loke," she called, her hand resting on her keys on her bedside table. The Lion spirit instantly appeared.

"Hey, Lucy, lookin' good," he complimented her, before asking, "Do you need anything?"

"I _still _don't understand how you can go back and forth from the spirit world on your own. It just doesn't make any sense. Anyway, you flirt, I need you to check up on something for me," she pouted.

"And... what is it?"

"Well, it's more like some_one_. I need you to find a girl named Levy McGarden."

"Huh? Who's that?" he inquired, looking confused.

"My friend," Lucy deadpanned, "Now please do it, I really need to find her. I'm worried about her."

"Y-yeah. Anything for miss Lucy..." He disappeared in a flash of light. Lucy sighed heavily. Loke was always like that... Her eyes slowly closed as she drifted, exhausted, into a deep sleep.

* * *

When Lucy woke it was late, and her stomach was growling. Her sleep was uneventful to say the least. In fact, she was actually hoping to have a few dreams that she remembered, but that didn't end up happening. She groaned, sitting up and glancing out the window. It was light. Too light. Her stomach made loud irritating noises again. She reached for her phone on the side of her bed, clicking one of the buttons and revealing that it was fairly late, around ten thirty. Why the hell had she slept so late? She'd even skipped dinner. A moment of panic settled over her before she remembered that it was Saturday. A nice breakfast at a good place would be nice...

She settled for the same restaurant that she met Natsu at. It always seemed to come back to that place.

"Hey, Lucy!" Oh great, the staff even knew her. "What'll it be today?"

"Uh, orange juice and the two times egg special. Sunny side up," she said, "I'm hungry today."

"That's a nice order! I'll be right out with your orange juice, okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

She sat there comfortably, drinking her juice. It was tangy and a little sour, unlike the sweet artificial flavor of orange juice from the carton. Nothing beats freshly squeezed. At least that was what _she _thought. Natsu held a very different opinion.

"And here's your eggs."

"Thanks again."

Lucy found herself contemplating. Nothing specific, just contemplating the everyday occurrences and people in her life. Like school and Natsu and Fairy Tail. It was all confusing for her. She pulled out her cellphone, thinking of something suddenly. Maybe Natsu knew where Levy was. She dialed in his phone number and put the phone to her ear.

It rang. And rang. And rang.

"Wait... So I gotta put my voicemail in here? The hell is that?"

"Please leave your message after the beep."

*BEEEEEEP*

"Um, Natsu, give me a call as soon as you can. I need your help with something. Uh, okay. Bye now."

She sighed. He didn't know how to work voicemail on his phone, how was he supposed to get her message? She let it slide as her breakfast arrived and sipped her orange juice. There was also her kidnapping from earlier that year. And Natsu's strange non-immunity to that fire at the school. It was a lot to think about.

Lucy finished her breakfast, gulping down the rest of her orange juice refill as soon as she got it.

"Well you _are _hungry today!" the waitress smiled. Lucy grinned at her. "Yup, I guess."

Her phone rang. She jumped as it vibrated across the table, the name on the screen of it was most shocking. Natsu had figured out how to use his cell phone.

"Hello? Natsu?"

"Eeek!"

The call disconnected. Lucy raised an annoyed eyebrow. The 'eek' that had responded to her hello was definitely not Natsu. It… It sounded like a girl.

"Grrr… Natsu…" Lucy was fuming. How…. How dare he?! Was he with a girl?! Was she his girlfriend?! Was he cheating on her?! Wait… no. They weren't even together, so that wouldn't be cheating on her… But still!

She slammed her fist on the table and stood, a dark yet fiery aura surrounding her. Rage was seeping out of her until she felt as if she _were _rage. She was going to beat the crap out of him, Lucy kick him until he was drooling blood, watch him as he grovelled on the ground before her, see to it that he was branded with the mark of shame!

_Whoaaah, calm down there Lucy, _she told herself, inwardly sighing. On the outside she was breathing heavily in her rage. _Just go down over to his dorm room and find out what's happening. Unless he's not there. Then you can kill him._

She towards the door of the restaurant, but before she could leave, the hostess stopped her. "Hey, Miss! You forgot your bill!"

Lucy calmed down considerably to deal with the mere mortals. Can't be too harsh on them. She left money and a tip on the table, before continuing her mission to eradicate foolish men from the earth. She'd kill him. She'd _really _kill him.

Crowds parted as she stomped through the streets. Never before had the gangsters and drug dealers seen such concentrated wrath in one individual, never mind girl. Pure fury could be witnessed from miles away in the red light district. Lucy hoped that she wouldn't have to visit there in order to find Natsu. No! What was she thinking?! Of course she wouldn't have to go there! Natsu would never do that!

She would show him just how fatal it was to piss off Lucy Heartfilia. One Lucy kick might not be enough. Two or more could be necessary. Maybe she'd even punch his lights out. Oooohh… that sounded good.

Her footsteps were sharp against the rough concrete. Her breathing came out in uneven huffs as she ran faster and faster. She tripped once, twice, but got back up again. Her mission couldn't be sidestepped just because her knees were bleeding a little bit. She wiped the dirt off of her legs and kept running.

She reached his dorm building. Of course, she had to explain her dire situation to the guy who was being a surveillance-type person at the desk. Apparently they didn't like sending girls up to rooms at the dorms. Natsu didn't have a roommate, so it was worse for his situation.

"I just need to check on him!" she explained, slamming her hands down on the desk. The guy raised a dark red eyebrow.

"Fine, go ahead. But you better be out of there before curfew."

"Yeah, sure."

"Hey, do you want some band-aids or something?"

"What? No, I'm fine."

Since there wasn't an elevator, she ran up the stairs as fast as she could. Her breathing was increasing again, and soon she was panting. Finally she made it to the 3rd floor, Natsu's floor. She burst through the stairwell doors and made her way through the halls. She turned the corner and found herself standing in front of Natsu's room.

Lucy raised her hand hesitantly to the door. She knocked.

_The door opened._

"Ah, Lucy?! It's you!"

Oh. It all made sense now.

Before her stood Levy McGarden, a little bruised, but mostly okay. She had bandages on her fingers, and a larger band-aid on her cheek. But she was alive.

"LEVY!" Lucy screamed, tackling her smaller friend. She had completely forgotten about the issue with Natsu for the moment. She didn't even wonder what Levy was _doing _in his dorm room. She was just glad that the bluenette was unharmed.

"Ouch! Easy, Lucy," Levy smiled, "I'm still a little bruised…"

"Wait! Who did this to you?!" Lucy demanded to know, letting Levy go and holding her a little softer.

"Oh, well…" Levy trailed off, her expression darkening. Her face… it was sad, even. "Someone… made a mistake, that's all."

"WELL THAT WASN'T JUST A MISTAKE!"

Both the girls froze, looking farther into the dorm room to see Natsu Dragneel, in all his naked glory, covered in only a towel. His skin was wet, but it was literally coming of in steam. His hair was wet and slicked down a little as well, but it was perking up nicely.

"N-natsu…" Lucy blubbered. She didn't expect him to be… uh… Wait a moment. She almost forgot her incredibly important mission.

* * *

Thanks for readingggg! Leave a review if you want! :3


	14. Hanky Panky! What's that!

Sorry for the stupid hiatus! This won't be a regular schedule since school is a bitch, but I hope to upload chapters more often! :)

* * *

Natsu was laying on the ground, holding his throbbing head. Thankfully, the towel that just barely covered his body was still doing it's job. Lucy lowered her leg. She had managed to hit him square in the forehead with her Lucy kick. She led Levy over to sit down on his twin bed, she was looking rather pale.

"The hell was that for?" Natsu grumbled, sitting up. He winced, but was able to glare in Lucy's direction.

"Payback," she said simply, "For… making me worry."

"Ah, that must be my fault…" Levy mumbled apologetically, "I answered Natsu's cell phone because he was in the bathroom, but I never expected you to be the one calling, and I got all nervous…"

"Just go see Jet and Droy. They'll cheer you up… after they stop trying to prevent each other from sexually harassing you."

"Shut up, Natsu," Lucy spat. She was very irritated with that pink-haired Dragonslayer at the moment, and was definitely not prepared to listen to what he had to say.

"Just sayin'"

"No, I couldn't face them," Levy said, her eyebrows scrunched up in worry. Lucy's heart quivered. _What the hell happened to you, Levy_? she wondered. Levy was usually so smart and in control…

"Well getting attacked and physically harmed and violated could count," Natsu said, tying the towel around his waist as he stood up. Lucy sent him a glare, but quickly looked down toward Levy to see if she confirmed this or not.

Levy nodded sheepishly.

Hollow dread filled Lucy. Who on earth would… Her eyes widened.

"Gajeel."

His name echoed across Natsu's dorm room. Not even the photos of Natsu's comrades on the walls could stop the sound from reverberating on them. Levy tensed, her eyes wide.

Natsu moved forward, his face set. Lucy hugged onto Levy tighter. "I- I'm sorry, Levy. I didn't mean to…"

"It's fine. I'm going to handle that jackass." Natsu's voice was hard, set like stone. Lucy could hear the resolve in it. She wondered how he did that. He always seemed so strong. He did have a trace of blood still on his face, but other than that he looked fine. He looked down toward her.

"Oi, Luce. You're bleeding."

Lucy jumped, then looked down at her busted knees, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "I, uh, tripped on my way over here."

Natsu sighed exasperatedly, before grinning down at her. "Here," he said, "I'll patch you up. I've got practice now."

Lucy bit her lip, but relented and layed her leg out for him to examine. It wasn't a deep cut, but there were lots of abrasive scratching around her knee. Natsu quickly produced a large bandage from the open first-aid kit on the floor as well as some disinfectant.

She winced as he cleaned her knee off, but the bandage helped with the pain after he placed it firmly on her kneecap. Her joint felt a bit numb but other than that she was fine.

"When'd you..." She grunted as she lifted herself off the bed, "get so good at this?"

"I thought I told you already. I fixed up Levy."

"Ah."

She wouldn't admit it aloud, but she felt a pang of what feeled like jealousy for a moment. It faded away quickly enough, but it still kept her wondering for awhile afterward. A pink hue tinted her cheeks.

Lucy stretched her leg after Natsu was finished. Everything seemed to be in order.

A knock was heard on the door.

"Come in," Natsu called. Mirajane Strauss opened the door and stepped inside. She was as beautiful as ever, but she held some uneasiness that day.

"Natsu," she said, holding out the phone she carried in with her, "please listen to this."

He held the phone to his ear, his face becoming serious all of a sudden. He tensed, his onyx eyes shooting over to Mira.

Lucy raised a worried brow. Natsu was obviously distressed about something. She gave Mira a questioning look, but the white-haired teacher was-

Her thought was interrupted as Natsu slammed his fist against his own bedside table. "THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL I'M LETTING YOU TALK HER HER YOU ASSHOLE!" he shouted into the phone, a vein or two popping up on his forehead. He glanced at Lucy for a split second. She hung her head as he turned his face away. He'd winced when he'd seen her.

"Natsu, hand me the phone."

He ignored her, insulting the person on the other line again, calling him a jerk face. Lucy almost rolled her eyes.

"Natsu," she said, raising her voice a little, "Give me the damn phone."

He glared at her, weakly pushing her away. His irritated look had no effect. She narrowed her eyes. This was now a silent battle of wills.

"Could you hold just a moment," Natsu said to the person on the line, his voice deadly and calm. He took the phone away from his mouth and tossed it on the bed, giving Lucy a hostile look.

"Why the hell do you want to talk to him? Are you crazy?!" he yelled, flames flickering in his hair suddenly. She glowered at him.

"I don't see a problem with it. I can handle my own situations, Natsu," she seethed, crossing her arms and coming closer to him. Mirajane and Levy were awkwardly standing there, not wanting to butt it and get their heads taken off.

"But this is different! If he tells you something to get you to go somewhere and threatens you, you won't tell me!" he protested, leaning in.

"How do you know that?! You're just making assumptions about me without even knowing!" She raised her arms, flailing them a little. "You're just a big jerk!"

"But you know you would! You… you wouldn't want to make me worry," he said, looking down at the floor uncomfortably. Lucy flushed, gritting her teeth and taking a subtle step back.

"What do you…"

Natsu took this opportunity of her confusion to grab the phone, scream 'NO!' into it, and hang up. Lucy's eyes widened further at the revelation. The pink haired Dragonslayer took the phone in his hand and started walking toward the exit of his room. She grabbed his arm, her face still flushed, yet dangerously furious. Without looking back, Natsu left the room.

"GET BACK HERE YOU ASSHAT!" the blonde shrieked, running after him, her whip out already. She could barely hear Mira and Levy's sighs as she left.

Lucy chased that idiot all the way to Fairy Tail. He was fast, she'd give him that, but she was fast too. And there was no way in hell she was going to let him get away with telling her something like… that… and then just _running away._

"GET BACK HERE, I SAID!" she yelled, before continuing her panting. She gulped even though her throat was dry, and pushed harder. She could run just as fast as he could, and she wasn't going to let that advantage be lost.

When they reached the gang hall, she caught him as he wrenched open the door. She bumped into him, pushing them both into the hall in a heap.

"GET OFF ME ASSHOLE!" she screamed when he fell on top of her, holding the phone. His face was smooshed against her cheek, and she was clutching his back. Their legs were tangled together, and as the dust cleared, she swore she heard whistling.

"Just because we finished fixing the gang hall doesn't mean it's time to get romantic and cozy, brats!" They both winced at the sound of Master Makarov's voice ringing out across the new high ceiling of the hall. Now that Natsu wasn't smothering her Lucy could see that the gang hall had been renovated. She hadn't been there in awhile, but she'd heard it had gotten destroyed by that Gajeel bastard.

Natsu extended his arms, trying to push himself up. Lucy crossed her arms protectively over her chest, giving him a testing look. He returned the gesture, sneering a little and standing up slowly, making sure to breath heavily over her.

"I thought I told you to cut it out with the cozy!" Makarov grumbled, an insistent reminder to cut the crap. It was time for business.

"Uh… that wasn't-" Natsu was interrupted with a glare from the Master.

"Never mind that," he said, waving an arm to symbolize the end of the issue, though both of the younger members stood awfully close to each other, for different reasons. "We have a problem on our hands."

Lucy, for one, was going to make Natsu pay. And not just give him a Lucy kick, no. This time it was the ultimate punishment. She would make him beg on his knees in front of everyone for… something. She wasn't sure what yet, but it was definitely going to be something good.

"Well what is it?" Natsu snapped, getting impatient. Lucy pouted at him, mockingly and silently scolding him. To further it she held a finger to her lips. He glared.

"The Police has issued a secret order to eliminate a certain gang." The Master's voice boomed, silencing both the teenagers. This was definitely a new piece of interesting information. Their attentions were set on Makarov now, making them completely forget to mess with each other.

"That gang is called Phantom Lord."

Natsu bristled while Lucy froze. "Does… does that mean?" Natsu left the question hanging. Makarov frowned.

"Both of you are to remain hidden while this attack commences. In fact, it's already begun as we speak. This new gang hall is empty because everyone is out fighting," the Master explained, gesturing to the large new hall. Lucy watched as Natsu opened his mouth to say something, but his jaw fell slack and his mouth shut. Her eyes widened. Natsu… speechless? That just didn't make any sense.

"What do you mean, Master?" she piped up, her voice squeaking slightly, "If our comrades are fighting, shouldn't we help them?" The entire idea of them staying behind worried her, but she was sure Master had a good reason. She might not agree with it, but she wanted to know what it was.

"What I mean to say, is that you and Natsu here are most likely their targets. I don't want there to be any chance of either of you getting kidnapped" - his eyes wavered for a moment - "again."

"Ah," she said, her voice sounding small. She hugged herself, suddenly feeling cold and inexplicably lost.

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Natsu giving the Master a hard, but trusting, look. "And you want us to disappear until the job's finished?"

"Exactly," Master Makarov nodded.

Natsu sighed, running a hand through his pink spikey hair. Lucy blinked up at him. He snaked his hand farther along her shoulder and turned her around, so that she was now facing the exit to the hall. He turned his head back to the Master and grinned.

"Don't worry, if they even touch her I'll burn them to ashes," he declared, opening one of the huge wooden doors.

"Fine," said the Master lighting up a little as he smiled back, "But if I hear about any hanky panky…" he paused as Natsu's smile vanished, "THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!"

"Let's scram, Luce," Natsu urged, pulled her hand as well as tugging on her shoulders, "I'll pretend I didn't hear that last part."

"The part about hanky panky?" she asked, more than a little bewildered.

"Oh," he said, wind blowing both of their hair. He scratched the nape of his neck. "That part. Yeah. Sure. You…" He realized what he'd just said. "Ahhhh….."

"Um, just never mind!" she said, walking quickly and switching herself to the leading position, "Forget I said anything!"

"Luce…"

"W-what is it?" She had sweat streaming off her face down her shirt, in her armpits, down her back, _everywhere._

"I was just wondering, but…" he seemed to be debating something in his mind. He cleared his throat. "I was wondering if you remember meeting me a long time ago."

"What is that supposed to mean…?"

"Well I.. uh, I think I remember meeting you as a kid and stuff," he said lamely. Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so… Does that matter now? We know each other well enough, don't we?" she asked.

"Yeah," he admitted, shrugging, "Guess it really doesn't matter now."

Near that place, a figure watched the two gang members walking along the sidewalk. A grin slid across their face. _Oh, but it really _does _matter. You'll see soon enough._

* * *

_Natsu and Lucy are so silly and cute I just can't even... :|_


End file.
